Combined Petri net modelling and artificial intelligence based heuristic hybrid search for flexible manufacturing systems – part I. Petri net modelling and heuristic search

This two-part paper presents modelling and scheduling approaches for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) using Petri nets (PNs) and artificial intelligence (AI) based heuristic search methods. In part I, the description of FMS formulation that will be considered throughout the paper is presented. A new class of PNs, Buffer-nets, for defining FMS is proposed, which enhances the modelling techniques for manufacturing systems with features that are considered difficult to model. An input language for automatic synthesis of these nets is developed. A scheduling architecture, which integrates PN models and AI techniques, is proposed. Finally, the complexity issues of manufacturing systems are addressed.