Modeling and simulation for service-oriented agent based manufacturing systems

Abstract

One of the most important problems when considering the design of multi agent manufacturing systems based on SOA paradigms is the lack of a simulation environment that would allow independent development and testing of the services and business processes of the manufacturing hardware. The paper presents the design and implementation of a complete simulation environment for service oriented multi agent manufacturing systems. It focuses on enhancements implemented for the NetLogo platform by adding both incoming and outgoing Web Services capabilities for agents and discusses the technical solutions for this integration. An example of the simulation environment is presented for a production line consisting of four robots and a circular conveyor belt, working in a fully heterarchic mode.