A multi-agent based intelligent configuration method for aircraft fleet maintenance personnel

A multi-agent based fleet maintenance personnel configuration method is proposed to solve the mission oriented aircraft fleet maintenance personnel configuration problem. The maintenance process of an aircraft fleet is analyzed first. In the process each aircraft contains multiple parts, and different parts are repaired by personnel with different majors and levels. The factors and their relationship involved in the process of maintenance are analyzed and discussed. Then the whole maintenance process is described as a 3-layer multi-agent system (MAS) model. A communication and reasoning strategy among the agents is put forward. A fleet maintenance personnel configuration algorithm is proposed based on contract net protocol (CNP). Finally, a fleet of 10 aircraft is studied for verification purposes. A mission type with 3 waves of continuous dispatch is imaged. Compared with the traditional methods that can just provide configuration results, the proposed method can provide optimal maintenance strategies as well. (C) 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of CSAA & BUAA.