A multi-agent scheduling problem for two identical parallel machines to minimize total tardiness time and makespan

Abstract

We study an agent-based scheduling problem of two identical parallel machines: [Formula: see text]. The machines and tasks are regarded as agents. A new multi-agent scheduling model is proposed to achieve the optimum from the two task agents, agent A and agent B. The objective is divided into two classes. The objectives of agent A and agent B are to minimize the total tardiness time and minimize the makespan, respectively. In this article, we research two identical parallel machines in which one job category can be processed by one machine agent only or two machine agents and propose a new multi-agent model for two identical parallel machines, divided into two subsystems. For subsystem 1, the shortest processing time order is used to solve job priorities. A single distribution strategy is proposed to assign jobs to machine agents and is applied to the dynamic scheduling environment. For subsystem 2, a centralized distribution strategy is applied to the static scheduling environment. The proposed model performs more efficiently and is better able to handle complex and dynamic scheduling environments.