Systems and methods that integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with agent-based control systems

• US 8,384,544 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2009
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Hall, Kenwood H., Tichy, Pavel, Vrba, Pavel, Macurek, Filip, Marik, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T
• Application Number:
  US12/481,961
• Publication Number:
  US 20090254199A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 3405721-5728, 340/10.1, 340/10.52, 235/382, 235/385, 235/492, 700/215, 700/217, 700/224
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4183 characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25196 Radio link, transponder
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33055 Holon, agent executes task and cooperates with other, distributed control
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

The subject invention relates to systems and methods that distribute electronic data, such as Electronic Product Code (EPC) data, obtained from RFID tags by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and/or servers to agents within an agent-based control system. The systems and methods employ a component that collects, filters, processes, and stores electronic product data. The component collects electronic product data through corresponding reader and/or server interfaces. This data can be filtered to accept particular electronic product data, processed to a format suitable to the agents, and stored. Such storage can include delineating the electronic product data across rows of a table by electronic product code and across columns of the table by various types of data. Upon receiving a subscription and/or request from an agent for electronic product data, the component can obtain and convey the information to the agent.

Claims

1. A system that distributes electronic product data within an agent-based control system, comprising:

a memory that stores one or more computer executable components, comprising;

a server reader interface that receives and stores one or more records of the electronic product data from a server; and

a component that conveys the one or more records to a requesting agent of requesting agents via an inter-agent communication mechanism, wherein the requesting agents are responsible for local decision making and cooperate to provide desirable global behavior of the agent-based control system; and

a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of at least one of the server reader interface or the component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is a Savant-like server.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the requesting agent requests historical electronic product data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the historical electronic product data includes electronic product codes read between two timestamps.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the historical electronic product data includes a signal quality indicator read within a time period.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the historical electronic product data includes timestamps that correspond to an electronic product code.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the historical electronic product data includes signal quality indicators that correspond to an electronic product code.

8. The system of claim 3, further comprising a second component that utilizes at least one of a signal quality indicator, a timestamp, or environmental information to determine a source of the electronic product data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the server reader interface filters the one or more records to prevent storage of records of undesired electronic product data.

10. A method for conveying electronic product data to agents in an agent-based control system, comprising:

receiving, by a system including a processor, electronic product data from a server reader interface;

storing the electronic product data in a structured format; and

providing the electronic product data to at least one agent based on a request for at least part of the electronic product data, wherein the at least one agent is responsible for local decision making with regard to a portion of a manufacturing process and cooperates with at least one disparate agent to provide desirable global behavior of the agent-based control system.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising filtering and formatting the electronic product data received from the server reader interface.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising employing a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader plug-in to receive the electronic product data from the server reader interface.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising employing the server reader interface to receive the electronic product data from a Savant-like server.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing includes providing the at least one agent with the electronic product data received within a particular time period in response to the request from the at least one agent.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing includes providing the at least one agent with a signal quality indicator read within a time period in response to the request from the at least one agent.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising employing the signal quality indicator to resolve a source of the electronic product data.

17. A system that provides product data received from a server reader interface to an agent-based control system, comprising:

a memory comprising computer-executable components; and

a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the computer-executable components comprising;

a data processing component that stores pre-processed product data obtained from the server reader interface; and

a module that provides the pre-processed product data to at least one agent subscribed to receive the pre-processed product data, wherein the at least one agent is responsible for local control of a portion of a manufacturing process and cooperates with at least one disparate agent to provide desirable global behavior of the agent-based control system.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the module utilizes a Subscribe Interaction Protocol to convey the pre-processed product data to the at least one agent.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the module provides a signal quality indicator associated with the pre-processed product data to an agent of the at least one agent subscribed to receive the signal quality indicator.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the data processing component selectively stores a desired subset of the pre-processed product data and discards an undesired subset of the pre-processed product data.