Dynamic scheduling method based on combination of contract net with mediator

A CAPP/PPC scheduling integration model is proposed based on the decentralized decision-making architecture of the Mediator in this paper and it can be used to solve the problem of the dynamic scheduling in practical production. Mediator technology and contract net are effectively combined in this model so that mediator can be used to carry out management and control in process plan and production scheduling integration model and contract net can be used as the bidding tool in dynamic scheduling, while the equipment and the course of concrete processing in production is completed by Agent technology, whereby the task sequence and optimization, bidding process and system evaluation can be realized. The dynamic scheduling can be accomplished under the mechanism of negotiation and coordination, whereby simplifying the reasoning mechanism of Agent and reducing the information lots in communication. The scheduling simulation for a randomly achieved emergent task illustrates that the method is very effective for the dynamic scheduling and rescheduling in production system with the frequently-changed environment.