Together with Patrick De Causmaecker, I coordinated two resarch projects on Agent Technology. The project investigates how software agents can be modeled as components of a distributed planning system. This project studies the application of agent technology for the development of distributed planning systems. The stress will be on adaptive planning systems, in which an existing solution will be adapted to changed circumstances. A test bench of different planning problems, each with its specific characteristics, will be developed.
Agent technology is useful for the development of distributed systems.
Most SME partners in the consortium have experience in the development of scheduling systems and so has the University of Nottingham. Examples are shopfloor control, manufacturing execution, personnel rostering, timetabling, and other optimisation systems. In this context, agent technology can be used both in the algorithmic planning and in the negotiation between the actors. We will therefore draw up an ontology of planning systems and use it to develop a general interface. The agents developed in this project will thus be easily integrated in other planning systems.