Decentralized Production Task Bidding for Flexible Plant Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centralized control of production systems makes it difficult to manage failures or integrations of participants, such as technical malfunctions or the addition of new autonomously driven vehicles, leading to inflexible task distribution and system adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A decentralized method where participants with computing units and electromagnetic communication capabilities identify and distribute tasks based on skill sets, allowing for autonomous reassignment and integration without central control, using either decentralized or central bidding processes to determine the most suitable participant for task execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If centralized control is used to manage production tasks, then task assignment can be coordinated, but the system becomes inflexible when participants fail or new participants are integrated
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized control system is segmented into decentralized autonomous participants, each capable of independently making decisions about task execution. Participants publish their skill spectra and autonomously bid for tasks, eliminating the need for a complex central control system while improving adaptability to failures and integrations.
Solution Approach 2:
Participants serve themselves by autonomously evaluating task requirements against their own skill spectra and submitting bids without central intervention. The system self-organizes through autonomous bidding and selection processes, allowing flexible adaptation when participants fail or new participants are integrated without requiring central control adjustments.
2Reliability
If a participant fails in a centrally controlled system, then the central system can reassign tasks, but this requires expensive adjustments and central intervention
Solution Approach 1:
Participants continuously publish their operational status and skill spectra to the production environment. When a participant fails, the feedback mechanism automatically triggers rebidding for their tasks by remaining participants, enabling reliable task reassignment without central intervention or expensive adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts to participant failures through autonomous rebidding processes. Remaining participants can dynamically update their skill spectra and bid for newly available tasks, allowing the system to maintain reliability while easily adjusting to changes without central control involvement.
3Adaptability or versatility
If new participants are integrated into a centrally controlled production environment, then the central system can assign tasks, but this requires adjustments to the control system
Solution Approach 1:
The production environment uses a universal skill spectrum framework that all participants publish and use for autonomous bidding. New participants integrate by publishing their skill spectra in the same format as existing participants, allowing seamless integration without requiring control system adjustments or special handling by a central system.
4Productivity
If decentralized bidding process is used to determine task execution, then task distribution becomes more flexible, but the communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of all participants communicating with all other participants, the decentralized bidding process uses selective communication where participants only bid for tasks they are qualified to perform based on their published skill spectra. This partial action approach maintains flexible task distribution while reducing unnecessary communication overhead and energy consumption.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for the decentralized operation of a production plant (2) for manufacturing, producing and/or assembling products and/or goods, which in a production environment (4) comprises at least three participants (6), wherein each participant (6) has a computing unit (8) in which a skill spectrum can be recorded by the respective participant (6), and wherein each participant (6) comprises a transmitting and receiving unit (10) for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves.