Life Cycle Simulation of Machine Parts with Part Agents Supporting Their Reuse

To effectively reuse machine parts for the development of a circulating society, it is essential to manage each part throughout its life cycle. Therefore, we propose a part agent that manages the part information and supports the user in reusing the part. A part agent is a network agent that autonomously acts corresponding to an individual part, manages information regarding a part from manufacturing to disposal, and proposes actions such as disposal and reuse to its user at an appropriate time. This activity promotes part reuse, reduce, and recycle. However, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a part agent by implementing it in an actual product and operating the product throughout its life cycle. Hence, we developed a system to simulate the behavior of parts and products throughout the entire life cycle with the part agent installed. There are several means to reuse products and the appropriate reuse method for the user differs according to the environment and the user’s manner of thinking. In this study, we conducted a life cycle simulation considering different reuse methods using the part agents.