| 1. |
- Bennulf, Mattias, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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A conceptual model for multi-agent communication applied on a plug & produce system
- 2020
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Ingår i: Procedia CIRP. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-8271 .- 2212-8271. ; 93, s. 347-352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Today, multi-agent systems are still uncommon in the industry because they require more time to be implemented than traditional manufacturing systems. In this paper, a conceptual model and guidelines are defined for communication and negotiation between agents for Plug & Produce systems. Standards for agent communication exists today, such as the FIPA collection of specifications. However, FIPA is a broad and general standard for any kind of system and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. This paper presents a new conceptual model and guidelines on how to simplify the implementation phase by limiting the choices an engineer must make when implementing a multi-agent system for a manufacturing system. © 2020 The Authors.
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| 2. |
- Bennulf, Mattias, 1992-
(författare)
-
A Control Framework for Industrial Plug & Produce
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Kundanpassade produkter och korta produktionsserier blir alltmer populärt. Detta har lett till problem för dedikerade tillverkningssystem som är designade för massproduktion. Det krävs ofta långa produktionsserier för att det ska bli en rimlig investering att ställa om produktionen. Därför används människor för tillverkningsuppgifter som ofta ställs om. Denna avhandling fokuserar på konceptet Plug & Produce, som gör det enklare att flytta, lägga till och ta bort resurser från ett tillverkningssystem. Tanken är att resurser placeras i processmoduler som alla har samma fysiska gränssnitt för att kopplas in i tillverkningssystemet. Styrningen av tillverkningssystemet görs av ett multiagentsystem där varje detalj som ska produceras för produkter får en egen agent som representerar detaljen och agerar som styrningsmjukvara. Varje detaljs agent tar hand on sina egna tillverkningsmål genom att kommunicera med resursagenter i systemet som används för styrning av resurserna. I detta arbete, presenteras ett ramverk för Plug & Produce som består av ett konfigurerbart multiagentsystem, samt ett konfigurationsverktyg som kan användas för att definiera agenterna. Arbetet inkluderar metoder för att identifiera inkopplade resurser, kommunikation mellan agenter, schemaläggning som kan undvika konflikter mellan agenter, samt metoder för att automatiskt hitta vägar för transport genom tillverkningssystemet.
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| 3. |
- Bennulf, Mattias, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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A Method for Configuring Agents in Plug & Produce Systems
- 2022
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Ingår i: SPS2022. - : IOS Press. - 9781643682686 - 9781643682693 ; , s. 135-146
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multi-agent technology, used for implementing Plug & Produce systems have many proposed benefits for fast adaption of manufacturing systems. However, still today multi-agent technology is not ready for the industry, due to the lack of mature supporting tools and guidelines. The result is that today, multi-agent systems are more complicated and time-consuming to use than traditional approaches. This hides their true benefits. In this paper, a new method for configuring agents is presented that includes automated deployment to manufacturing systems and by its flexible design opens the possibility to connect many other supporting tools when needed. A configuration tool is also designed that works with the proposed method by connecting to an agent configuration database. The overall aim of the method is to simplify the steps taken for adapting a manufacturing system for new parts and resources.
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| 4. |
- Bennulf, Mattias, 1992-
(författare)
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A User-Friendly Approach for Applying Multi-Agent Technology in Plug & Produce Systems
- 2020
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis presents methods for simplifying the use of multi-agent systems in Plug & Produce. The demand for customized products and low volume production is constantly increasing. The industry has for many years used dedicated manufacturing systems where it is difficult and expensive to adapt to new product designs. Instead, factories are forced to use human workers for certain tasks that demand high flexibility and rapid adaption for new product designs. Several solutions have been proposed over the years to create highly flexible automation systems that automatically handles rapid adaption for new products. A concept called Plug & Produce aims at creating a system where resources and parts can be added in minutes rather than days in dedicated systems. One promising solution for implementing Plug & Produce is the distributed approach called multi-agent systems, where each resource and part get its own controller that communicates with each other to reach manufacturing goals. The idea is that the system automatically handles the adaption for new products. However, still today the use of such systems is extremely limited in the industry. One reason is the lack of mature multi-agent systems that are easy to use and that hides the complexity of the underlying agent system from the users. This is a huge problem since these systems tend to be more complex than traditional approaches. Thus, this thesis focuses on simplifying the use of multi-agent systems by proposing various methods for bringing the multi-agent technology for Plug & Produce closer to the industry.
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| 5. |
- Bennulf, Mattias, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Goal-Oriented Process Plans in a Multiagent System for Plug & Produce
- 2021
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1941-0050 .- 1551-3203. ; 17:4, s. 2411-2421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents a framework for Plug & Produce that makes it possible to use configurations rather than programming to adapt a manufacturing system for new resources and parts. This is solved by defining skills on resources, and goals for parts. To reach these goals, process plans are defined with a sequence of skills to be utilized without specifying specific resources. This makes it possible to separate the physical world from the process plans. When a process plan requires a skill, e.g., grip with a gripper resource, then that skill may require further skills, e.g., move with a robot resource. This creates a tree of connected resources that are not defined in the process plan. Physical and logical compatibility between resources in this tree is checked by comparing several parameters defined on the resources and the part. This article presents an algorithm together with a multiagent system framework that handles the search and matching required for selecting the correct resources.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Glorieux, Emile, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Energy model for motion planning of 2D-belt press line tending robots
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Manufacturing Research. - : Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. - 1750-0591. ; 15:1, s. 52-72
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A current trend in production is to reduce energy consumption where possible not only to lower the cost but also to be a more energy efficient entity. This paper presents an energy model to estimate the electrical energy consumption of 2D-belt robots used for material handling in multi-stage sheet metal press lines. An estimation of the energy consumption is computed by the proposed energy model based on the robot components’ specifications, the robot path and trajectory. The proposed model can predict the energy consumption offline by simulation, and thus, before installation, avoiding the need for physical experiments. It is demonstrated that it can be used for predicting potential energy reductions achieved by optimising the motion planning. Additionally, it is also shown how to investigate the energy saving achieved by using mechanical brakes when the robot is idle. This effectively illustrates the usefulness of the proposed energy model. © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
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| 8. |
- Massouh, Bassam, et al.
(författare)
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A Framework for Hazard Identification of a Collaborative Plug&Produce System
- 2022
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Ingår i: Communications in Computer and Information Science. - Cham : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 1865-0929 .- 1865-0937. ; 1616 CCIS, s. 144-155
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plug&Produce systems accept reconfiguration and have the attribute of physical and logical flexibility. To implement the Plug&Produce system in a manufacturing plant, there is a need to assure that the system is safe. The process of risk assessment provides information that is used to implement the proper safety measures to ensure human and machine safety. An important step in the risk assessment process is hazard identification. Hazard identification of Plug&Produce system is unique as the hazard identification method provided in the safety standards do not consider system flexibility. In this paper, a framework for hazard identification of a collaborative Plug&Produce system is presented. A study case that includes a collaborative Plug&Produce system is presented and the framework is applied to identify the system’s hazards. Also, the generalisation of the framework application is discussed. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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| 9. |
- Nilsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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A Classification of Different Levels of Flexibility in an Automated Manufacturing System and Needed Competence
- 2021
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Ingår i: Towards Sustainable Customization: Bridging Smart Products and Manufacturing Systems. - Cham : Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. - 9783030907006 ; , s. 27-34
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mass customization has become more attractive but requires a transformation towards more flexible solutions in contrast to dedicated manufacturing systems. Flexibility includes complex tasks such as the introduction of new products or new manufacturing processes as well as to efficiently handle daily balancing. The main challenge when it comes to flexibility in manufacturing is to be able to handle the technical aspects and still be competitive. In this article we consider the cost for flexibility to include two main things; (1) setup time, e.g., time for planning, design, programming and configuration, installation, ramp-up, scrapping of old equipment, preparation of facility, hardware installation, and (2) need of competence, inhouse knowledge, external competence, or external expert competence. This article presents an overview of available solutions and the level of flexibility and the level of competence that is needed for a reconfiguration one can expect out of a specific solution. Further, most of the existing solutions found do not consider or address the full problem of flexibility. However, we describe a possible future of industrial concept: Plug & Produce, which can address flexibility within manufacturing more completely and sustainably over time. Methods for configuration instead of programming are developed by University West.
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| 10. |
- Nilsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Customization and flexible manufacturing capacity using a graphical method applied on a configurable multi-agent system
- 2023
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Ingår i: Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing. - : Elsevier. - 0736-5845 .- 1879-2537. ; 79
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article proposes a Plug & Produce and goal-oriented configurable multi-agent system that admits adding and removing resources to balance the manufacturing capacity without doing any digital reconfiguration or reprogramming. To handle that a new part-agent strategy is developed and described. Goals are central in designing autonomous multi-agent systems, possibilities to execute goals in parallel are desirable when the process requirements admit concurrent use of resources. Also, a standardized graphical method, the sequence of goals chart, is proposed to define and visualize parallel and sequential goals independently of available resources. Premanufacturing of wooden houses belongs to one of many manufacturing industries that claim flexible automation systems due to the high degree of customized products and a fluctuating market. A physical Plug & Produce robot-based workstation was built up to verify the flexibility in altering capacity and adoption to product modifications of a house wall section. Further, the simplicity of modifying the proposed configurable multi-agent system was compared to more traditionally designed systems and plain multi-agent systems with superior results. The flexibility is built into the proposed system by default as a part of the concept, simple enough to be handled by existing in-house knowledge within manufacturing companies.
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