Blockchained smart contract pyramid-driven multi-agent autonomous process control for resilient individualised manufacturing towards Industry 5.0

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

61 Scopus Citations
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Author(s)

  • Jiewu Leng
  • Weinan Sha
  • Zisheng Lin
  • Jianbo Jing
  • Qiang Liu
  • And 1 others
  • Xin Chen

Related Research Unit(s)

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4302–4321
Journal / PublicationInternational Journal of Production Research
Volume61
Issue number13
Online published22 Jun 2022
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Abstract

The production control for the mass individualisation paradigm of R&D-stage products is challenging due to the mix-flow and frequently-disturbed environment. With the convergence of the sustainable development goals and the increasing individualised demands in products, resilient manufacturing is envisioned in Industry 5.0 proposition. Concerning that conventional centralised production control methods suffer from low stability and inefficiency of decisions under frequent disruptions, this paper establishes a blockchained smart contract pyramid-driven multi-agent autonomous process control (BSCP-MAAPC) approach for improving the timeliness and adaptability of control towards resilient individualised manufacturing. Firstly, a blockchain-based multi-agent system architecture is designed based on agent encapsulation of manufacturing units. Blockchained smart contracts are used as the enabler of the multi-agent system for peer-to-peer negotiation and coordination of tasks. Secondly, a quad-play blockchained smart contract pyramid together with a series of decentralised control patterns are designed to enable the initial task dispatching of various individualised demands, as well as rapid dynamic adjustment of schedule in response to internal random disruptions. Finally, a blockchained smart contract pyramid-driven multi-agent autonomous process control system prototype is built in the ManuChain system, and experiments are conducted to analyze the proposed BSCP-MAAPC approach in different environments.

© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Research Area(s)

  • Autonomous process control, Industry 5.0, multi-agent system, resilient individualised manufacturing, smart contract

Citation Format(s)

Blockchained smart contract pyramid-driven multi-agent autonomous process control for resilient individualised manufacturing towards Industry 5.0. / Leng, Jiewu; Sha, Weinan; Lin, Zisheng et al.
In: International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 61, No. 13, 2023, p. 4302–4321.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review