Distributed coordination of project schedule changes : an agent-based compensatory negotiation approach

In the construction industry, projects are becoming increasingly large and complex, involving multiple subcontractors. Traditional centralized coordination techniques used by the general contractors become less effective as subcontractors perform most wok and provide their own resources. When subcontractors cannot provide enough resources, they hinder their own performance as well as that of other subconractors and ultimately the entire project Thus, construction projects need a new distributed coordination approach wherein all of the concerned subcontractors can reschedule a project dynamically. To enable the distributed coordination framework of project schedule changes, the author developed an agent-based compensatory negotiation methodology, which allows intelligent software agents to simulate negotiations on behalf of their human subcontractors. In addition to this theoretical work, 1 designed and implemented a prototype to demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework. Thus, this research formalizes the necessary steps that would help construction project participants to increase the efficiency of their resource use, which in turn will enhance successful completions of whole projects.

[1]  Ladislau Bölöni,et al.  An object-oriented framework for building collaborative network agents , 2000 .

[2]  Charles J. Petrie,et al.  JATLite: A Java Agent Infrastructure with Message Routing , 2000, IEEE Internet Comput..

[3]  Gerald W. Evans,et al.  Time-Constrained Resource Leveling , 1991 .

[4]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  WORKPLAN: CONSTRAINT-BASED DATABASE FOR WORK PACKAGE SCHEDULING , 1999 .

[5]  Ashish Dubey.  Resource leveling and linear scheduling , 1993 .

[6]  Gerhard Weiss,et al.  Multiagent systems: a modern approach to distributed artificial intelligence , 1999 .

[7]  Katia P. Sycara,et al.  The RETSINA multiagent system (video session): towards integrating planning, execution and information gathering , 1998, AGENTS '98.

[8]  Miroslaw J. Skibniewski,et al.  Multiheuristic Approach for Resource Leveling Problem in Construction Engineering: Hybrid Approach , 1999 .

[9]  Said M. Easa,et al.  Resource Leveling in Construction by Optimization , 1989 .

[10]  Eithan Ephrati,et al.  Deriving Consensus in Multiagent Systems , 1996, Artif. Intell..

[11]  Dave Cliff,et al.  Simple Bargaining Agents for Decentralized Market-Based Control , 1998, ESM.

[12]  Victor R. Lesser,et al.  Exploiting Meta-Level information in a Distributed Scheduling System , 1994, AAAI.

[13]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  Coordination as distributed search in a hierarchical behavior space , 1991, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[14]  Charles J. Petrie,et al.  Agent-Based Project Management , 1999, Artificial Intelligence Today.

[15]  J W Fondahl,et al.  A non-computer approach to the critical path method , 1962 .

[16]  Michael P. Wellman,et al.  A market protocol for decentralized task allocation , 1998, Proceedings International Conference on Multi Agent Systems (Cat. No.98EX160).

[17]  Osama Moselhi,et al.  Near optimal solution for resource-constrained scheduling problems , 1993 .

[18]  Jeffrey S. Rosenschein,et al.  Designing Conventions for Automated Negotiation , 1994, AI Mag..

[19]  A. Feldman.  Welfare economics and social choice theory , 1980 .

[20]  Carlos Angel Iglesias,et al.  MIX: A General Purpose Multiagent Architecture , 1995, ATAL.

[21]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  A contracting model for flexible distributed scheduling , 1996, Ann. Oper. Res..

[22]  Timothy W. Finin,et al.  A Proposal for a new KQML Specification , 1997 .

[23]  Michael P. Wellman.  A Market-Oriented Programming Environment and its Application to Distributed Multicommodity Flow Problems , 1993, J. Artif. Intell. Res..

[24]  Dulcy M. Abraham,et al.  Resource Leveling of Linear Schedules Using Integer Linear Programming , 1998 .

[25]  Tarek Hegazy,et al.  ALGORITHM FOR SCHEDULING WITH MULTISKILLED CONSTRAINED RESOURCES , 2000 .

[26]  Weng Tat Chan,et al.  CONSTRUCTION RESOURCE SCHEDULING WITH GENETIC ALGORITHMS , 1996 .

[27]  Jeffrey S. Rosenschein,et al.  Rules of Encounter - Designing Conventions for Automated Negotiation among Computers , 1994 .

[28]  Sandip Sen,et al.  Satisfying user preferences while negotiating meetings , 1997, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[29]  James M. Antill,et al.  Critical path methods in construction practice , 1970 .

[30]  Makoto Yokoo,et al.  The Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem: Formalization and Algorithms , 1998, IEEE Trans. Knowl. Data Eng..

[31]  Victor R. Lesser,et al.  A Cooperative Repair Method for a Distributed Scheduling System , 1996, AIPS.

[32]  Pattie Maes,et al.  Hive: distributed agents for networking things , 1999, Proceedings. First and Third International Symposium on Agent Systems Applications, and Mobile Agents.

[33]  Edsger W. Dijkstra,et al.  Termination Detection for Diffusing Computations , 1980, Inf. Process. Lett..

[34]  Garold D. Oberlender.  Project Management for Engineering and Construction , 1993 .

[35]  Douglas B. Moran,et al.  The Open Agent Architecture: A Framework for Building Distributed Software Systems , 1999, Appl. Artif. Intell..

[36]  Israel Ben-Shaul,et al.  FarGo: a system for mobile component-based application development , 1999, Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference on Software Engineering (IEEE Cat. No.99CB37002).

[37]  Khaled A El-Rayes,et al.  Scheduling of repetitive projects with cost optimization , 1993 .

[38]  Hyacinth S. Nwana,et al.  ZEUS: A Toolkit for Building Distributed Multiagent Systems , 1999, Appl. Artif. Intell..

[39]  Yan Jin,et al.  i-AGENTS: Modeling Organizational Problem Solving in Multi-Agent Teams , 1993 .

[40]  John W. Fondahl.  The Development of the Construction Engineer: Past Progress and Future Problems , 1991 .

[41]  Julio C. Martinez,et al.  Resource Leveling Based on the Modified Minimum Moment Heuristic , 1993 .

[42]  Robert Weihmayer,et al.  Conflict-resolution Strategies for Nonhierarchical Distributed Agents , 1989, Distributed Artificial Intelligence.

[43]  Robert B. Harris.  Packing Method for Resource Leveling (PACK) , 1990 .

[44]  Victor R. Lesser,et al.  Generalizing the Partial Global Planning Algorithm , 1992, Int. J. Cooperative Inf. Syst..

[45]  Foad Farid,et al.  Optimal Resource Leveling Using Integer-Linear Programming , 1993 .

[46]  Austin Tate,et al.  A distributed scheduling framework , 1994, Proceedings Sixth International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence. TAI 94.

[47]  Randall Davis,et al.  Frameworks for Cooperation in Distributed Problem Solving , 1988, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[48]  Martin Fischer,et al.  Importance of Capacity Constraints to Construction Cost and Schedule , 2000 .

[49]  Makoto Yokoo,et al.  Distributed constraint satisfaction for formalizing distributed problem solving , 1992, [1992] Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems.

[50]  William J. O'Brien,et al.  An economic view of project coordination , 1995 .

[51]  Sahin Albayrak,et al.  JIAC - A Toolkit for Telecommunication Applications , 1999, IATA.

[52]  Timothy W. Finin,et al.  A negotiation-based Multi-agent System for Supply Chain Management , 1999 .

[53]  Randall Davis,et al.  Negotiation as a Metaphor for Distributed Problem Solving , 1988, Artificial Intelligence.

[54]  Sou-Sen Leu,et al.  GA-BASED MULTICRITERIA OPTIMAL MODEL FOR CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING , 1999 .

[55]  Yoav Shoham,et al.  A Dynamic Theory of Incentives in Multi-Agent Systems , 1997, IJCAI.

[56]  Charles Char-Lin Koo.  A distributed model for performance systems: synchronizing plans among intelligent agents via communication , 1988 .

[57]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  Partial global planning: a coordination framework for distributed hypothesis formation , 1991, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[58]  Norman M. Sadeh,et al.  Distributed constrained heuristic search , 1991, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[59]  Mohammed A. Salem Hiyassat.  Modification of Minimum Moment Approach in Resource Leveling , 2000 .

[60]  Khaled A El-Rayes,et al.  Resource-driven scheduling of repetitive activities , 1998 .

[61]  Reid G. Smith,et al.  The Contract Net Protocol: High-Level Communication and Control in a Distributed Problem Solver , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[62]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  A Formal Study of Distributed Meeting Scheduling , 1998 .

[63]  Victor R. Lesser,et al.  Issues in Automated Negotiation and Electronic Commerce: Extending the Contract Net Framework , 1997, ICMAS.

[64]  Timothy W. Finin,et al.  KQML as an agent communication language , 1994, CIKM '94.

[65]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  Trends in Cooperative Distributed Problem Solving , 1989, IEEE Trans. Knowl. Data Eng..

[66]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Interactive Coordination of Distributed Work Plans , 2000 .

[67]  Tuomas Sandholm,et al.  An Implementation of the Contract Net Protocol Based on Marginal Cost Calculations , 1993, AAAI.

[68]  Takahiro Kawamura,et al.  Bee-gent: Bonding and Encapsulation Enhancement Agent framework for development of distributed systems , 1999, Proceedings Sixth Asia Pacific Software Engineering Conference (ASPEC'99) (Cat. No.PR00509).

[69]  Keith S. Decker,et al.  A Programming and Execution Environment for Distributed Multi Agent Systems , 2000 .

[70]  Tarek Hegazy,et al.  Optimization of Resource Allocation and Leveling Using Genetic Algorithms , 1999 .