Software infrastructure for prototyping evolving manufacturing control architecture

Control architectures for manufacturing span a broad range of categories from hierarchical at one extreme to purely hierarchical on the other. Such range covers broad spectrum of solutions, from quasi-hierarchical structures to self-organizing systems. This paper describes an agent-based framework that provides the tools and components for implementing a self-organizing system which blends the advantages of hierarchical and hierarchical architectures. Typical components include, for example, a generic agent for encapsulation of machine-level control, a configurable decision process for the agents, hierarchical or hierarchical control frameworks. Use of these predefined components enables rapid prototyping and instantiation of system-level control.