Title: Manufacturing system behaviour using self-organisation

Authors: Z. Katz, P. Slingerland

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. ' Faculty of Engineering, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract: The paper presents a comprehensive simulated case of a manufacturing system|s self-organising capability, based on swarm intelligence concepts, intelligent agents, emerging behaviour and system survivability. The work presents and refers to a designed environment including robots, AGVs and respective handled objects, reaching a self-organised status in an unpredictable environment. A concept of rule-based reasoning is applied through agents, facilitating the process of swarm intelligence. The work incorporates aspects of the system|s emerging behaviour and its ability to |survive| from uncertainty to organised status. Simulation of a typical environment is included, and potential extension to a variety of manufacturing environments is discussed.

Keywords: self-organisation; swarm intelligence; emerging behaviour; manufacturing systems; simulation; intelligent agents; multi-agent systems; agent-based systems; system survivability; robots; AGVs; rule-based reasoning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2007.015088

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2007 Vol.2 No.4, pp.448 - 461

Published online: 12 Sep 2007 *

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