iDCS: A multi-agent architecture for modelling manufacturing systems

In this paper, a new architecture for automation in manufacturing systems is proposed. The architecture “intelligent Distributed Control System (iDCS)” is focused on the distribution of control resources so that the intelligent control and condition monitoring can be performed locally with maximum level of autonomy. In this regard, the powerful framework of Multi Agent Systems (MAS) is employed to conceptually model the manufacturing platform. Also, considering the event-driven dynamics of the plant, an automata language is used to formally represent the agents and their interactions. In order to enhance the fault tolerance of the agent-based community, a fuzzy redundancy management scheme has been introduced to the supervisory level of iDCS. Simulations have been performed to demonstrate the iDCS model and redundancy policy of a flow line comprised of four agents.