An agent-oriented approach for self-management of industrial automation systems

The increasing complexity of modern industrial automation systems (IAS) makes support of technical system management tasks necessary. Towards this goal, a generic agent-based concept for self-management systems is introduced, that supports efficient integration of self-management functions during operation time of IAS. Starting with the specific requirements on self-management systems in the domain of IAS a basic architecture is derived and completed with 6 different agent types that work on 3 levels. The functional principle is explained by means of a real-world example of a passenger lift system that is extended with self-healing functionality.