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A Multi-Agent Platform to Support Knowledge Based Modelling in Engineering Design

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Nature-Inspired Methods for Metaheuristics Optimization

Part of the book series: Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies ((MOST,volume 16))

Abstract

Nowadays engineering design process requires the involvement of multiple partners from multiple disciplines throughout the Product Life Cycle (PLC). Consequently, the construction of numerical models became a difficult task due to the distribution of experts. This article proposes an agent based approach to support a coherent know-how elicitation, to enrich design problem analysis, based on the re-use of experiences and their storage in a standardized knowledge base. A set of Tutor-Agents (TAs) aid experts in the knowledge modelling process focusing on Variables, Domains and Constraints as a key component of engineering knowledge. A shared and coherent knowledge base is the main purpose of the proposed Multi-Agent System (MAS). The interaction among agents enables to highlight potential incoherencies during the modelling process to avoid inconsistent information. The Multi-Agent approach is implemented in a software prototype and a knowledge base can then be constructed, providing standardized Product Life Cycle (PLC) constraints (based on the product related knowledge) for creating models to be analyzed by traditional inference engines such as Optimization solvers, Constraint Satisfaction programming, etc.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    From the triple 〈X, D, C〉 definition of Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) theory that defines CSP as mathematical problems composed by as a set of objects whose state must satisfy a number of constraints

  2. 2.

    Set of possible values that a variable V i can take

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Design Engineering Research Group (GRID), Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia

    Ricardo Mejía-Gutiérrez

  2. ESTIA Engineering School, Technopôle Izarbel, Bidart, France

    Xavier Fischer

  3. IMC-I2M, UMR CNRS 5295, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Xavier Fischer

Authors
  1. Ricardo Mejía-Gutiérrez
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  2. Xavier Fischer
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Correspondence to Ricardo Mejía-Gutiérrez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Central de Nantes, Nantes cedex 3, France

    Fouad Bennis

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Rajib Kumar Bhattacharjya

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Mejía-Gutiérrez, R., Fischer, X. (2020). A Multi-Agent Platform to Support Knowledge Based Modelling in Engineering Design. In: Bennis, F., Bhattacharjya, R. (eds) Nature-Inspired Methods for Metaheuristics Optimization. Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26458-1_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26458-1_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26457-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26458-1

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