A multiagent system for intelligent material handling

The goal of the paper is to outline a multiagent robotic system employed in the task of material handling in an unstructured, indoor environment. In the research described, manipulators, observers, vehicles, sensors, and human operators are considered to be agents. Alternatively, an agent can be a general-purpose agent. Mobility is considered to be essential-if an agent is not mobile, it must be possible for it to ´piggy-back´ on another agent which is mobile. In addition there is a central station which is stocked with a variety of additional sensors, means of illumination, special effectors or tools, that the agents can employ depending on the environment, task and the outcome of the execution of the task. Some possible applications of such a material handling system and examples of the tasks and environments are outlined.<>