Collaboration, Task Decomposition and Allocation

This chapter introduces techniques for task decomposition and allocation and outlines mechanisms developed for the MetaMorph project. Collaboration means that a group of agents work together on a common project or a task. Task decomposition is the process of decomposing a task into sub-tasks. Task allocation is the process of distributing tasks and sub-tasks among the available resources. Task allocation techniques can be classified in two main categories: centralized approaches and distributed approaches. Bidding may well be the most common mechanism for task allocation in agent-based systems. Each coordination cluster also includes a set of clone agents derived from active manufacturing resource agents. In MetaMorph II, manufacturing resource agents are coordinated by appropriate mediators at all levels of the system. The bidding process between the Tool Mediator and the tool agents is similar to that at the Worker Mediator level.