A stigmergic approach for dynamic routing of active products in FMS

This paper illustrates the capacity of a stigmergic routing control model to automatically find efficient routing paths for active products in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) undergoing perturbations. The proposed model is based upon a functional architecture with two levels: a virtual level in which virtual active products (VAPs) evolve stochastically in accelerated time, and a physical level in which physical active products (PAPs) evolve deterministically in real-time. The physical active products follow the best paths that have been detected on the virtual level, with a virtual level exploration being triggered when a perturbation is diagnosed in the transportation system. The data used for the simulation on the virtual level is then updated to reflect the real state of the transportation system. The model's adaptive capabilities are illustrated with several simulation scenarios using NetLogo software, and an on-going real implementation is presented.