Running Agent-based-models Simulations Synchronized with Reality to Control Transport Systems.

Adaptable, flexible and evolvable manufacturing systems and warehouses are so complex to manage that control systems have to be divided into several aspects. One of these is internal transportation, which has to do with all tasks involved in fulfilling a set of so-called transportation orders, i.e. commands to collect and deliver material from origin to destination spots. A common approach to design the controllers for these applications begins by modeling them as multi-agent systems and continues to final deployment through a cascade of transformations. To minimize development costs of internal transportation controllers, we have proposed a model of construction that includes components that synchronize the events from reality simulation and the ones from actual reality. By using these synchronizers, further development is required only for those parts of the initial multi-agent controller models with real counterparts. In this paper, we review the model and the architecture of the proposed internal transportation system controllers and we illustrate the whole design process through the development of a controller for an automated laboratory. Indirectly, we prove the validity of the architecture and of its key component, the synchronizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prilagodljivi, fleksibilni i razvijaju´ci sustavi proizvodnje i skladištenja toliko su složeni za voženje da je sustave upravljanja potrebno podijeliti u nekoliko aspekata. Jedan je od njih unutarnji transport koji je potrebno provoditi uz ispunjavanje svih zadataka iz skupa tzv. transportnih naredbi tj. naredbi za sakupljanje i isporuku materijala od polaznih do odredišnih toˇcaka. Uobiˇcajeni pristup u sintezi regulatora za ove svrhe zapoˇcinje modeliranjem transporta kao višeagentnih sustava te se nastavlja do konaˇcne implementacije kroz kaskadne transformacije. Za minimizaciju razvojnih troškova regulatora unutarnjeg transporta, u radu je predložen pristup sinteze uz ukljuˇcenje komponenata koje sinkroniziraju simulacijsko i stvarno okruženje. Korištenjem ovih sinkronizatora, daljnji razvoj potreban je samo za one dijelove inicijalnog višeagentnog regulatora koji imaju svoje stvarne pandane. U radu je takožer dan pregled modela i arhitektura predloženih regulatora za transportni sustav te je prikazan cijeli proces sinteze kroz razvoj regulatora za automatizirani laboratorij. Posredno, takožer je validirana i kljuˇcna komponenta arhitekture odnosno sami sinkronizatori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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