Title: Experience and reflection on the development of a holonic job shop scheduling system

Authors: Scott S. Walker, Robert W. Brennan, Douglas H. Norrie

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, Canada T2N 1N4. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, Canada T2N 1N4. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, Canada T2N 1N4

Abstract: In this paper, we describe the development of a holonic job shop scheduling system that is based on Object-Oriented (O-O) and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) approaches. In particular, this paper focuses on the holonic architecture (created primarily for system analysis purposes), the multi-agent architecture (created primarily for system design purposes) and the agent platform (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents Open Source (FIPA-OS)). On the basis of our experience with this development project, we then reflect on the approach and provide some suggestions for the developers of the holonic systems.

Keywords: holonic system design; multi-agent systems; MAS; job shop scheduling; object-oriented programming; distributed manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2006.010077

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2006 Vol.26 No.1/2, pp.15 - 27

Published online: 16 Jun 2006 *

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