11
An agent-based approach to engineering design Kuo-Ming Chao a,* , Peter Norman b , Rachid Anane a , Anne James a a School of Mathematical & Information Sciences, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK b Engineering Design Centre, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Armstrong Building, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK Abstract Among the features of concurrent engineering is the notion of distributed design, and the ability to communicate design changes to multidisciplinary teams. Engineering design is a complex activity. Differences in system architectures and information structures, and co-ordination requirements tend to reduce the effectiveness of distributed design. Current thinking indicates that multi-agent systems MAS) can alleviate some of the complex engineering design problems. In this paper, it is argued that agent attributes such as proactiveness and autonomy can overcome these limitations. Agents provide a ¯exible and dynamic approach to distributed/multidisciplinary design team which can reduce redundant design activities, and improve co- ordination. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Intelligent agent; Proactiveness; ORB; Engineering design 1. Introduction The successful design of large and complex made- to-order MTO) products such as ships, offshore oil platforms and aeroplanes, require the collaboration of multidisciplinary design teams. These teams use spe- cialised computer systems to aid their design process. Unfortunately, such computer systems may use dif- ferent data representations of the product model. They may also utilise different design software packages. These packages may be written in dissimilar lan- guages, for instance C, C, Java or other languages, and installed on different hardware systems. Conse- quently, any collaborative communication or co-ordi- nation between such diverse and different models, languages and system architectures may prove dif®- cult. Within the last decade, a number of design tools have been developed at the Engineering Design Cen- tre, University of Newcastle. The following brie¯y describes these: Process flow diagram PFD) system [1], used to design a gas-condensate separation process. The system generated a PFD frame and rule model of the process. Electrical system [2], computes the power demand and power generation equipment dimensions. The system can also select equipment from the suppli- er's catalogues. This selection is based on the PFD specifications. Plant operation system [2], produces diagnostic rules for functioning plant. These rules are based on the output of the PFD system. Associativity data generation ADG) [3], calculates the strength of the relationship between any two pieces of equipment based on connectivity, func- tion, and cost. The equipment and connectivity data Computers in Industry 48 2002) 17±27 * Corresponding author. Tel.: 44-24-76888908. E-mail address: [email protected] K.-M. Chao). 0166-3615/02/$ ± see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0166-361502)00007-6

An agent-based approach to engineering design

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