Behavioral modeling and verification of multi-agent systems for manufacturing control

Simulation is the primary approach to the performance analysis of multi-agent manufacturing systems. In a typical simulation experiment, varying the agent negotiation protocol’s timing parameters can yield incomparable results in performance terms due to behavioral problems such as deadlocks and livelocks. Formal verification can help resolve such problems and therefore plays an important role in the design of agent negotiation protocols. We describe an efficient and scalable approach to formal verification based on an industrial-strength model checking tool and illustrate it with an example.

► Behavioral modeling and verification of multi-agent systems for manufacturing control.
► We model the contract net protocol in a manufacturing control application.
► We examine behavioral problems such as deadlocks and livelocks.
► We demonstrate how formal verification can help resolve such behavioral problems.