Internal communication architecture for resource holons

Key aspects of Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) are flexibility and reconfigurability in view of change and disturbances. Disturbances may occur due to malfunction of the machinery equipment; changes in the manufacturing environment may require new holonic control algorithms to be adopted. In the paper we will present an architectural approach supporting dynamic reconfiguration of resource holons in case of malfunction and recovery. For flexible and efficient testing and validation of holonic control algorithms the proposed communication architecture supports the connection of high-level holonic control logic to manufacturing machinery as well as to emulations of the machinery.