An Introduction to MultiAgent Systems

An Introduction to MultiAgent Systems
Author: Michael Wooldridge
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2009-06-22
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0470519460

The study of multi-agent systems (MAS) focuses on systems in which many intelligent agents interact with each other. These agents are considered to be autonomous entities such as software programs or robots. Their interactions can either be cooperative (for example as in an ant colony) or selfish (as in a free market economy). This book assumes only basic knowledge of algorithms and discrete maths, both of which are taught as standard in the first or second year of computer science degree programmes. A basic knowledge of artificial intelligence would useful to help understand some of the issues, but is not essential. The book’s main aims are: To introduce the student to the concept of agents and multi-agent systems, and the main applications for which they are appropriate To introduce the main issues surrounding the design of intelligent agents To introduce the main issues surrounding the design of a multi-agent society To introduce a number of typical applications for agent technology After reading the book the student should understand: The notion of an agent, how agents are distinct from other software paradigms (e.g. objects) and the characteristics of applications that lend themselves to agent-oriented software The key issues associated with constructing agents capable of intelligent autonomous action and the main approaches taken to developing such agents The key issues in designing societies of agents that can effectively cooperate in order to solve problems, including an understanding of the key types of multi-agent interactions possible in such systems The main application areas of agent-based systems

Design of Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems

Design of Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems
Author: Rajiv Khosla
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 462
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3540445161

There is a tremendous interest in the design and applications of agents in virtually every area including avionics, business, internet, engineering, health sciences and management. There is no agreed one definition of an agent but we can define an agent as a computer program that autonomously or semi-autonomously acts on behalf of the user. In the last five years transition of intelligent systems research in general and agent based research in particular from a laboratory environment into the real world has resulted in the emergence of several phenomenon. These trends can be placed in three catego ries, namely, humanization, architectures and learning and adapta tion. These phenomena are distinct from the traditional logic centered approach associated with the agent paradigm. Humaniza tion of agents can be understood among other aspects, in terms of the semantics quality of design of agents. The need to humanize agents is to allow practitioners and users to make more effective use of this technology. It relates to the semantic quality of the agent design. Further, context-awareness is another aspect which has as sumed importance in the light of ubiquitous computing and ambi ent intelligence. The widespread and varied use of agents on the other hand has cre ated a need for agent-based software development frameworks and design patterns as well architectures for situated interaction, nego tiation, e-commerce, e-business and informational retrieval. Fi- vi Preface nally, traditional agent designs did not incorporate human-like abilities of learning and adaptation.

Multi-Agent Systems for Concurrent Intelligent Design and Manufacturing

Multi-Agent Systems for Concurrent Intelligent Design and Manufacturing
Author: Weiming Shen
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2019-09-17
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0429530366

Agent Technology, or Agent-Based Approaches, is a new paradigm for developing software applications. It has been hailed as 'the next significant breakthrough in software development', and 'the new revolution in software' after object technology or object-oriented programming. In this context, an agent is a computer system which is capable of act

Architectural Design of Multi-Agent Systems: Technologies and Techniques

Architectural Design of Multi-Agent Systems: Technologies and Techniques
Author: Lin, Hong
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1599041103

"This book is a compilation of advanced research results in architecture and modeling issues of multi-agent systems. It serves as a reference for research on system models, architectural design languages, methods and reasoning, module interface design, and design issues"--Provided by publisher.

Innovations in Multi-Agent Systems and Application – 1

Innovations in Multi-Agent Systems and Application – 1
Author: Dipti Srinivasan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2010-07-17
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3642144357

In today’s world, the increasing requirement for emulating the behavior of real-world applications for achieving effective management and control has necessitated the usage of advanced computational techniques. Computational intelligence-based techniques that combine a variety of problem solvers are becoming increasingly pervasive. The ability of these methods to adapt to the dynamically changing environment and learn in an online manner has increased their usefulness in simulating intelligent behaviors as observed in humans. These intelligent systems are able to handle the stochastic and uncertain nature of the real-world problems. Application domains requiring interaction of people or organizations with different, even possibly conflicting goals and proprietary information handling are growing exponentially. To efficiently handle these types of complex interactions, distributed problem solving systems like multiagent systems have become a necessity. The rapid advancements in network communication technologies have provided the platform for successful implementation of such intelligent agent-based problem solvers. An agent can be viewed as a self-contained, concurrently executing thread of control that encapsulates some state and communicates with its environment, and possibly other agents via message passing. Agent-based systems offer advantages when independently developed components must interoperate in a heterogenous environment. Such agent-based systems are increasingly being applied in a wide range of areas including telecommunications, Business process modeling, computer games, distributed system control and robot systems.

Multiagent Systems, second edition

Multiagent Systems, second edition
Author: Gerhard Weiss
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 917
Release: 2016-10-28
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0262533871

The new edition of an introduction to multiagent systems that captures the state of the art in both theory and practice, suitable as textbook or reference. Multiagent systems are made up of multiple interacting intelligent agents—computational entities to some degree autonomous and able to cooperate, compete, communicate, act flexibly, and exercise control over their behavior within the frame of their objectives. They are the enabling technology for a wide range of advanced applications relying on distributed and parallel processing of data, information, and knowledge relevant in domains ranging from industrial manufacturing to e-commerce to health care. This book offers a state-of-the-art introduction to multiagent systems, covering the field in both breadth and depth, and treating both theory and practice. It is suitable for classroom use or independent study. This second edition has been completely revised, capturing the tremendous developments in multiagent systems since the first edition appeared in 1999. Sixteen of the book's seventeen chapters were written for this edition; all chapters are by leaders in the field, with each author contributing to the broad base of knowledge and experience on which the book rests. The book covers basic concepts of computational agency from the perspective of both individual agents and agent organizations; communication among agents; coordination among agents; distributed cognition; development and engineering of multiagent systems; and background knowledge in logics and game theory. Each chapter includes references, many illustrations and examples, and exercises of varying degrees of difficulty. The chapters and the overall book are designed to be self-contained and understandable without additional material. Supplemental resources are available on the book's Web site. Contributors Rafael Bordini, Felix Brandt, Amit Chopra, Vincent Conitzer, Virginia Dignum, Jürgen Dix, Ed Durfee, Edith Elkind, Ulle Endriss, Alessandro Farinelli, Shaheen Fatima, Michael Fisher, Nicholas R. Jennings, Kevin Leyton-Brown, Evangelos Markakis, Lin Padgham, Julian Padget, Iyad Rahwan, Talal Rahwan, Alex Rogers, Jordi Sabater-Mir, Yoav Shoham, Munindar P. Singh, Kagan Tumer, Karl Tuyls, Wiebe van der Hoek, Laurent Vercouter, Meritxell Vinyals, Michael Winikoff, Michael Wooldridge, Shlomo Zilberstein

Developing Intelligent Agent Systems

Developing Intelligent Agent Systems
Author: Lin Padgham
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2005-06-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0470861215

Build your own intelligent agent system... Intelligent agent technology is a tool of modern computer science that can be used to engineer complex computer programmes that behave rationally in dynamic and changing environments. Applications range from small programmes that intelligently search the Web buying and selling goods via electronic commerce, to autonomous space probes. This powerful technology is not widely used, however, as developing intelligent agent software requires high levels of training and skill. The authors of this book have developed and tested a methodology and tools for developing intelligent agent systems. With this methodology (Prometheus) developers can start agent-oriented designs and implementations easily from scratch saving valuable time and resources. Developing Intelligent Agent Systems not only answers the questions “what are agents?” and “why are they useful?” but also the crucial question: “how do I design and build intelligent agent systems?” The book covers everything a practitioner needs to know to begin to effectively use this technology - including an introduction to the notion of agents, a description of the concepts involved, and a software engineering methodology. Read on for: a practical step-by-step introduction to designing and building intelligent agent systems. a full life-cycle methodology for developing intelligent agent systems covering specification, analysis, design and implementation of agents. PDT: Prometheus Design Tool – software support for the Prometheus design process. the example of an electronic bookstore to illustrate the design process throughout the book. Electronic resources including the Prometheus Design Tool (PDT), can be found at: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/agents/prometheus This book is aimed at industrial software developers, software engineers and at advanced undergraduate students. It assumes knowledge of basic software engineering but does not require knowledge of Artificial Intelligence or of mathematics. Familiarity with Java will help in reading the examples in chapter 10.

Engineering Intelligent Hybrid Multi-Agent Systems

Engineering Intelligent Hybrid Multi-Agent Systems
Author: Rajiv Khosla
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1461562236

Engineering Intelligent Hybrid Multi-Agent Systems is about building intelligent hybrid systems. Included is coverage of applications and design concepts related to fusion systems, transformation systems and combination systems. These applications are in areas involving hybrid configurations of knowledge-based systems, case-based reasoning, fuzzy systems, artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and in knowledge discovery and data mining. Through examples and applications a synergy of these subjects is demonstrated. The authors introduce a multi-agent architectural theory for engineering intelligent associative hybrid systems. The architectural theory is described at both the task structure level and the computational level. This problem-solving architecture is relevant for developing knowledge agents and information agents. An enterprise-wide system modeling framework is outlined to facilitate forward and backward integration of systems developed in the knowledge, information, and data engineering layers of an organization. In the modeling process, software engineering aspects like agent oriented analysis, design and reuse are developed and described. Engineering Intelligent Hybrid Multi-Agent Systems is the first book in the field to provide details of a multi-agent architecture for building intelligent hybrid systems.

Intelligent Agents III. Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages

Intelligent Agents III. Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages
Author: Michael J. Wooldridge
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1997-01-22
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9783540625070

Intelligent agents are computer systems that are capable of flexible autonomous action in dynamic, typically multi-agent domains. Over the past few years, the computer science community has begun to recognise that the technology of intelligent agents provides the key to solving a range of complex software application problems, for which traditional software engineering tools and techniques offer no solution. This book, the third in a series, represents the state of the art in the science of agent systems. It is based on papers presented at the 3rd workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures and Languages (ATAL'96), held in conjunction with the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI'96) in Budapest, Hungary, in August 1996. It is essential reading for anyone interested in this vital new technology.