Multi-Agent Design To Migrate A Flexible Manufacturing Cell To A Holonic System

The main propose of this project is to design a multi-agent system platform on a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC). Taking into consideration all levels of functional issues, cellular architecture, standardization, and technical configurations, we take advantage of features released on a graphical programming commercial software, such as object oriented programming, distributed intelligence, and block function representation. The approach is addressed to encourage the usage of holonic and multiagent concepts in traditional manufacturing systems, with friendly software based upgrade and a minimum low cost hardware expansion. The intention is to develop a system that will fit into different levels of an enterprise, including shop-floor and manufacturing execution systems, and simultaneously we will deal with technological migration from conventional manufacturing structure to a holonic-ready FMC.