Designer Fabricator Interpreter system: evaluating alternate connection configuration through multiagent negotiation

The Designer Fabricator Interpreter (DFI) is a knowledge-based system that addresses the lack of interaction among structural designers, fabricators, and erectors in dealing with connections of structural members. Current research includes the development of a distributed problem solving architecture in which the participants are modeled as semiautonomous computer agents which reason from their own specific viewpoints while evaluating a connection. During the evaluation process, agents propose alternative connections for consideration which may require a negotiation process among the agents. If they cannot resolve the problem, an arbitrator agent is enlisted to help the conflicting agents reach an agreement. Potentially better alternative connection configurations along with the reasons behind the choices are presented from the viewpoints of design, fabrication, and field erection