Simulation-based study on resources circulation - an autonomous decentralized model and agent-based simulation

In this paper, a methodology for modeling and controlling of resources circulation systems is studied. We propose a model structure by introducing two kinds of submodels: a physical model and an information model. The physical model is used for simulating the flow of materials and products, while the information model is used for a decision-making on production, consumption, recycling/reuse, discard etc. Moreover, we implement an additional top-level component, a supervisor, who observes the global behavior of the system and controls it indirectly. Based on the proposed approach, we implement a prototype of simulation model. Through some computer simulations, we examine influences of the decision making as well as the indirect control on the resources circulation.