Multiple evolution and concurrent engineering design

In a complex engineering design, multiple engineering design agents are required to work cooperatively in order to design a product. Using a single system to model the problem is not natural and can be difficult, since multiple disciplinary teams in different departments, and multiple companies with different modelling methods and techniques are often involved Each design agent is only concerned with its design issues, having little or no knowledge about the concerns of other agents. A successful engineering design requires specialist knowledge and original ideas in order to produce a high-quality design. In this paper, we present a framework where agent technology is used to model interactions between design systems. We also introduce a multiple-evolutionary approach with an automated negotiation mechanism to enable agents to exchange design ideas and to reach an agreed optimised solution for a global design problem.