Agent-based control systemfordistributed control of AGVs

AGV의 분산제어를 위한 에이전트 기반의 제어시스템

This paper deals with a new automated guided vehicle (AGV) control system for distributed control. Proposed AGV control system adapts the multi-agent technology. The system is composed of two types of controller: routing and order. The order controller is in charge of assignment of orders to AGVs. Through the bidding-based negotiation with routing controllers, the order controller assigns a new order to the proper AGV. The order controller announces order information to the routing controllers. Then the routing controllers generate a routing schedule for the order and make a bid according to the routing schedule. If the routing schedule conflicts with other AGV's one, the routing controller makes an alternative through negotiation with other routing controllers. The order controller finally evaluates bids and selects one. Each controller consists of a set of agents: negotiation agent, decision making agent and communication agent. We focus on the agent architecture and negotiation-based AGV scheduling algorithm. Proposed system is validated through an exemplary scenario.