HOMASCOW: a holonic multi-agent system for cooperative work

Assistance tools for actors of cooperative systems, which are often centralized are increasingly designed to adhere to the system organization using a distributed architecture. However, generally these systems have difficulty in managing data coherency at the global level. In answer to this problem, we turned towards a particular organizational model: holonic systems. This concept has guided us in the design of the Holonic Multi-Agent System (HOLOMAS), which offers a good compromise between the distribution of knowledge and control centralization. In fact, the use of the HOLOMAS appeared to be necessary following the study of the procedures used in the patent department of a large company