Design and Control of Self-organizing Systems

 

Complex systems are usually difficult to design and control. There

are several particular methods for coping with complexity, but there

is no general approach to build complex systems. In this book I propose

a methodology to aid engineers in the design and control of complex

systems. This is based on the description of systems as selforganizing.

Starting from the agent metaphor, the methodology proposes

a conceptual framework and a series of steps to follow to find

proper mechanisms that will promote elements to find solutions by actively

interacting among themselves. The main premise of the methodology

claims that reducing the “friction” of interactions between elements

of a system will result in a higher “satisfaction” of the system,

i.e. better performance.

A general introduction to complex thinking is given, since designing

self-organizing systems requires a non-classical thought, while practical

notions of complexity and self-organization are put forward. To

illustrate the methodology, I present three case studies. Self-organizing

traffic light controllers are proposed and studied with multi-agent

simulations, outperforming traditional methods. Methods for improving

communication within self-organizing bureaucracies are advanced,

introducing a simple computational model to illustrate the

benefits of self-organization. In the last case study, requirements for

self-organizing artifacts in an ambient intelligence scenario are discussed.

Philosophical implications of the conceptual framework are

also put forward.

 

design-control-self-organizing-systems.pdf