Engineering hierarchical complex systems: an agent-based approach. The case of flexible manufacturing systems

TL;DR

This paper presents a formal multi-agent-based model for specifying, modeling, and validating hierarchical complex systems, with a focus on flexible manufacturing systems and the potential development of a generic meta-model for holonic multi-agent systems.

Contribution

It introduces a formal model using MABS concepts to specify hierarchical systems and discusses a future meta-model for holonic multi-agent systems.

Findings

Model effectively captures hierarchical system dynamics

Applicable to flexible manufacturing systems

Lays groundwork for a generic holonic multi-agent meta-model

Abstract

This article introduces a formal model to specify, model and validate hierarchical complex systems described at different levels of analysis. It relies on concepts that have been developed in the multi-agent-based simulation (MABS) literature: level, influence and reaction. One application of such model is the specification of hierarchical complex systems, in which decisional capacities are dynamically adapted at each level with respect to the emergences/constraints paradigm. In the conclusion, we discuss the main perspective of this work: the definition of a generic meta-model for holonic multi-agent systems (HMAS).