Abstract:
Different shop floor control architectures (SFCAs) are trying to resolve control problem of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs) by proposing different paradigms. Hierarchical SFCAs enable a layered hierarchy and try to overcome the complexity of the system by aggregating the problem. Heterarchical approaches see the system as a whole that consists of autonomous and cooperative agents. To develop efficient applications of SFCAs, simulation is an appropriate approach which lets a limitless configuration and test possibility. But the methodology of the simulation application is very important and must be developed with considering the system at hand. When modeling a system composed of entities, which interchange messages, consideration of messaging structure becomes essential. In this respect, Parallel and Distributed Simulation (P/DS) is the most appropriate methodology for these systems. In this thesis, simulation applications for both hierarchical and heterarchical SFCAs are built with a distributed and parallel simulation approach. Thus a test bed for comparing the performances of different architectures and for developing new approaches to decision making, information sharing, or communication within each architecture is obtained. In developing P/DS applications, existing real-time SFCA applications in Bo˘gazi歔ci University Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (BUFAIM) laboratory are taken as basis. Applications are developed in a modular and object oriented fashion, to enable easy progression from simulation to real-time control and vice versa. With running each distributed module on a different computer and keeping the messaging real it is aimed to catch the dynamics of the communication structures which are the defining characteristics of the SFCAs.
