Patent ID: 6400999
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: G05B,G06Q,Y02P

Abstract:
A production system that produces desired products by applying manufacturing work to products using manufacturing equipment in accordance with a predetermined manufacturing sequence, said system comprising:one or more control machines to control manufacturing operation of the manufacturing equipment; one or more control computers to control the one or more control machines; one or more memory units provided in the one or more control computers that supply working areas for each product agent and machine agent; a control network to which the one or more control machines and control computers are connected; the product agent being provided for a product on a one-to-one basis and having a recipe describing a manufacturing sequence for a product; the machine agent being provided for a manufacturing equipment on a one-to-one basis and having a function list showing functions assigned to a corresponding manufacturing equipment; and wherein the product agent interprets description of the recipe and broadcasts a manufacturing request to the machine agent, and wherein the machine agent returns a reply if it can accept the manufacturing request based on its own function list and content of the transmitted request, and wherein the product agent selects a manufacturing equipment to which manufacturing work is to be requested based on the reply from the machine agent.