Prototyping an agent-based distant manufacturing control system

The design and prototyping of a distant and cooperative manufacturing system controlling the progress of tasks in a shop-floor level is more complicated than a regular e-commercial system. Even being highly recommended for achieving agile manufacturing, it is still in its fantasy due to a high control complexity. In this study, we proposed a design method for the distant and cooperative manufacturing control using agent-based approach. A reference model using object-oriented technology is presented to facilitate the development of distant and cooperative controlling of a manufacturing system. We have successfully implemented a distant and cooperative manufacturing control prototype based on the proposed reference model.