Title: Coalitions of manufacturing components for shop floor agility - the CoBASA architecture

Authors: Jose Barata, Luis M. Camarinha-Matos

Addresses: New University of Lisbon and Uninova Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. New University of Lisbon and Uninova Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

Abstract: In this article, an agent-based architecture in which cooperation is regulated by contracts is proposed as a flexible approach to dynamic shop floor re-engineering. It describes the dynamic and flexible cooperation of manufacturing agents, representing manufacturing resources and how they can be created from a generic agent template. Agents| behaviour and contract types and structure are discussed. The first experimental results are also introduced.

Keywords: virtual organisation; contracts; agile manufacturing; multiagent systems; virtual enterprise.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2003.003518

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2003 Vol.2 No.1, pp.50 - 77

Published online: 08 Oct 2003 *

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