A Bio-inspired and Altruistic-Based Framework to Support Collaborative Healing in a Smart Manufacturing Shop-Floor

Abstract

Biologicalisation defines the analysis of biological patterns as a source of inspiration to model intelligent manufacturing systems. Due to their inherent adaptability, these design representations are highly desirable considering the increasing complexity of modeling current manufacturing solutions. Contributing to the idea of self-organizing and autonomous shop floors, we present a framework that aims to support the collaborative healing of manufacturing resources. This has been inspired on the altruistic behavior of bats in which social care is demonstrated (e.g., in bat colonies) even at the cost of individuals’ fitness/health. These ideas are conceptually showcased in an emergent automation manufacturing application, i.e., peer-to-peer energy sharing in automated guided vehicles. Some conclusions, and potential future research are discussed at the end of the paper.