Rule-Based Composition of Intelligent Mechatronic Components in Manufacturing Systems Using Prolog

This paper proposes a rule-based approach for automatic configuration of mechatronic components in a novel agent-based manufacturing automation architecture known as MIRA, implemented using Prolog. Through this method, MIRAs are enriched with semantic knowledge representation and, based on that, perform some reasoning and decision making (both at the design stage and even during the operation) to achieve the desired goals. This approach is illustrated in a simple case study in which composition of a reconfigurable pick-and-place robot with various linear cylinders is achieved through rule-based reasoning.