Vladimír Mařík

Holons & Agents: Recent Developments and Mutual Impacts

This position paper briefly gathers together the recent trends in the related aras of holonic systems and multi-agent systems with the main goal to present the Holonic Manufacturing Systems area to the MAS community. The vision of a Holonic Factory is very near to being realized, and draws a number of its concepts from the world of multi-agent systems. That is why many similarities can be identified between these two areas, and many opportunities exist for the crossover of research results. The IEC 61499 standard for real-time function-block oriented holonic control was completed recently. It has been recognized by the holonic manufacturing system community that this standard is able to help in solving low-level control tasks only. That is, where the time horizon of decisions made by holons (e.g. concerning stopping the physical movement of robots, or executing safety-critical tasks) is in the range of microseconds to seconds. Yet this standard does not address all the topics needed to construct an intelligent agile factory. The MAS area can significantly help to avoid the current deadlocks in HMS research. In terms of mutual impacts, holonic systems are based on pragmatic manufacturing control requirements, and so they can offer a wealth of attractive opportunities for deploying agent-based ideas into real industrial settings. And vice versa, the application of agents into manufacturing domains, connected with physical production, should motivate a MAS community that has (until now) concentrated on just information agents.

Rockwell automation agents for manufacturing

The paper provides an overview of the agent-based solutions developed by the Rockwell Automation company for the purposes of industrial control. Using agent-based manufacturing control, a higher degree of flexibility and reconfigurability of manufacturing solutions as well as higher robustness of the industrial systems can be achieved. Specific solutions connected with the proposed agent architecture, with implementation of the real-time control agents as well as with the information transfer among the SW agents and the real-time agents in a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) are presented. Attention is also paid to the simulation of both the agent-based manufacturing facilities and their control systems. A simulation environment MAST for material handling systems has been implemented in JADE. The opportunity to re-use directly the simulation software on the agent control level is one of the most important features of MAST.

FIPA Standards and Holonic Manufacturing

This paper documents the fact that the research in the two areas of holonic manufacturing systems and multi-agent systems contains substantial overlap. Many technologies and results achieved in the multi-agent area can be applied with advantage in the holonic field. This is especially true when talking about standardisation, which should enable interoperability of systems. The FIPA international consortium has introduced a systematic approach to development and maintenance of specifications and standards for the multi-agent domain. The principles of the FIPA Abstract Architecture are briefly described. Two examples of applications of FIPA standards in different areas within the scope of holonic systems (control, and production planning and supply chain management) are presented. FIPA standards have been recognised as a suitable candidate for ensuring complete interoperability in the holonic field.

An Intelligent Agent Validation Architecture for Distributed Manufacturing Organizations

In this paper, we focus on validation of Multi-Agent System (MAS) behavior. We describe the simulation architecture and the system design methodology to accomplish the appropriate agent behavior for controlling a real-life automation system. The architecture is explained in the context of an industrial-sized water cooling system. Nevertheless, it is intended to operate in a wide spectrum of control domains. In general, after the design of the control system is accomplished, a set of validation procedures takes place. The current needs are to validate both the control and the agent levels as integrated parts. Hence there is a need to establish a general architecture and methodology for easing the commissioning process of the control solution.

A Real-Time Interface for Holonic Control Devices

In this paper we present a general specification for a real-time transformation interface for Holonic Control Devices. This interface is intended to provide the logical linkage between the two worlds of agents and machines, which is needed to realise truly holonic systems.

Semantics in Industrial Distributed Systems

Abstract Industrial distributed systems aim at robust and flexible control of industrial processes, for which the traditional centralized approaches are not sufficient. The general problem of distributed systems is that they are still tightly coupled from the point of view of system integration and are still far from openness that would enable cooperation at a larger scale without any human intervention. To achieve better operation and integration in an open reconfigurable environment, explicit semantics is needed to capture the meaning during communication. Relevant research area is the field of ontologies and semantic web. We show how semantics can be employed in industrial systems, in particular in distributed agent-based systems, and especially using semantic web research. We review current state of the art and, based on our own experience, we discuss potentials and challenges as well as differences and similarities of applications of semantics and ontologies in industrial systems when compared to WWW oriented research.

Agent-Based Simulation: Mast Case Study

Summarizing all the specific features of the simulation systems needed for agent-based systems, the paper documents that the simulation tools of this kind do represent rather complex development environment for agent-based systems than one-purpose simulation software obvious in the case of “classical” centralized systems. The agent-oriented simulation tools explore and combine methods of real-time emulation, qualitative simulation, testing and diagnostic algorithms with classical methods of both the discrete and continuous simulation approaches, techniques of advanced visualization and run-time interfacing. The MAST simulation tool and the detailed description of its extension for the Cambridge Packing Cell Testbed are used as a case study.

Using radio frequency identification in agent-based manufacturing control systems

The radio frequency identification (RFID) is a technology for automatic identification and localization of items, particularly in supply chain. Unlike bar code technology that detects the optical signals reflected from bar code labels, RFID uses radio waves to transmit the information from an RFID tag placed on the physical object to the RFID reader. A vast amount of raw data coming from RFID readers needs to be collected, filtered and preprocessed prior to providing it to high-level applications and information systems. Current architectures (like Savant, edge servers and similar) for collection and filtering are most likely of centralized nature. It obviously does not conform to the distributed nature of agent-based solutions for the RFID-enabled manufacturing control systems. In this paper, we present an agent-based solution where specialized agents collect and filter the RFID data obtained directly from RFID readers and provide the data to other agents via standard agent communication mechanisms.

Using radio frequency identification in agent-based control systems for industrial applications

Abstract The radio frequency identification (RFID) is a technology for automatic identification of items, particularly in supply chain, but it is becoming increasingly important for industrial applications. Unlike barcode technology that detects the optical signals reflected from barcode labels, RFID uses radio waves to transmit the information from an RFID tag affixed to the physical object. We present middleware architecture for collection, filtration and preprocessing of the RFID data designed with respect to the exploitation the RFID technology in industrial environments as well as to the integration of the RFID with agent-based manufacturing control systems.

Cost-Based Dynamic Reconfiguration System for Evolving Holarchies

Autonomous, highly distributed control architectures are composed of a significant number of holons/agents that can reason and act on behalf of represented processes or artifacts in a coordinated manner. Depending on the social organization capabilities of the agents, the autonomous system could evolve into complex agent organizations called temporal holarchies. Cost-based negotiation supports the holarchy formation. Dynamic hierarchical teamworks architecture of middle-agents is described to increase robustness of the architecture.