Abstract

: Pareto optimality is a domain-independent property that can be used to coordinate distributed engineering agents. Within a model of design called Redux, some aspects of dependency-directed backtracking can be interpreted as tracking Pareto optimality. These concepts are implemented in a framework, called Next-Link, that coordinates legacy engineering systems. This framework allows existing software tools to communicate with each other and a Redux agent over the Internet. The functionality is illustrated with examples from the domain of electrical cable harness design. Keywords:[Design Coordination], [Pareto Optimality], [Change Management], [Distributed Engineering], [Network Agents] 1 Introduction Coordination of distributed engineering agents frequently involves globally conflicting solutions to multiple local objectives. While much computer research on support of collaborative engineering concerns global metrics for optimization, decision support, and negotiation, a basic coor...