On-Line Planning of Flexible Assembly Systems: An Agent-Based Approach

Abstract

This paper presents an agent-based approach to online assembly task allocation and scheduling for flexible assembly systems. We propose an anytime-scheduling algorithm to handle dynamic changes during planning. This algorithm is the center of an agent-based architecture in which agents for scheduling, collision avoidance, task execution, and task monitoring collaborate to overcome unexpected execution errors. A prototype planning system has been implemented for the RobotWorld flexible assembly system. Preliminary simulation results show that our approach is capable of dynamically rescheduling assembly operations after system faults occur. We are currently integrating the planning system with the assembly test bed in our laboratory.