Block 3 - lecture 1

Question 1

What’s heterarchy?

Answer 1

unranked organisation of parts, all parts are the same level, there’s no hierarchy

Question 2

can a heterarchy occur in the same system as a hierarchy?

Answer 2

yes, often the case

Question 3

give some examples of heterarchies?

Answer 3

• worker bees
• ants
• starlings in a swarm

Question 4

what causes starlings to swarm in a flock?

Answer 4

an emergent behaviour in the absence of hierarchy

Question 5

What’s a Holon?

Answer 5

a whole and a part at the same time

something self-contained, made of child parts but also dependent on the surrounding system ie. parent and sibling parts

Question 6

what’s a Hierarchy?

Answer 6

each part has parent parts that it’s dependant on and child parts that depend on it

Question 7

what’s the name of a system with hierarchies and heterarchies?

Answer 7

a holarchy

Question 8

example of a holon?

Answer 8

embedded systems such as microprocessors or microcontrollers eg. arduino

Question 9

advantages of using holons?

Answer 9

self contained function so can be COTS (commercial of the shelf), thus lowers costs

Question 10

examples of multi agent systems?

Answer 10

• intelligent transport systems

- adaptive manufacturing systems