Affiliations: Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada | Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Abstract: This paper presents a multi-agent architecture and a supporting data
structure suited for the verification of constraints in a mechanical
engineering design context. The data structure is composed of three levels,
namely an environment level, providing a link to existing mechanical
engineering software, an expert level, capturing product requirements and trade
knowledge through constraints formulation and finally a product level, dealing
with specific products under development. Constraints and models are assigned
distinctive attributes, which are then exploited by the agents in their
verification strategies, which are rightly termed as constraint or model
driven. Multi-agent task planning provides an additional level of optimization
for the operation of agents in their mission to check the product against the
various constraints throughout the design process.
