Abstract
Many agent-based systems rely for their effectiveness on the intelligence of individual agents, and interaction among agents is required simply to coordinate these individually complex decisions. Specification and design methods for such systems focus on the internal architecture of individual agents. An alternative approach, “Synthetic Ecosystems,” uses relatively simple agents and draws heavily on the dynamics of the interaction among these agents as well as their internal processing to solve domain problems. The specification and design of such systems must include not only the individual agents, but also the structure and dynamics of their interaction. This paper briefly defines and motivates the Synthetic Ecosystems approach and outlines some techniques that have proven useful in specifying and designing them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
J. Bryson. Agent Architecture as Object Oriented Design. In this volume.
B. Burmeister. Models and Methodology for Agent-Oriented Analysis and Design. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Agent-Oriented Programming and Distributed Systems (KI'96), 1996.
W.A. Cook. Case Grammar: Development of the Matrix Model. Washington: Georgetown University, 1979.
A. Drogoul. When Ants Play Chess (Or Can Strategies Emerge from Tactical Behaviors?) In C. Castelfranchi and J.-P. Müller, editors, From Reaction to Cognition: Selected Papers, Fifth European Workshop on Modelling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW '93), pages 13–27, 1995.
J. Ferber. Les systèmes multi-agents: vers une intelligence collective. Paris: InterEditions, 1995.
C.J. Fillmore. The Case for Case Reopened. Studies in Syntax and Semantics 8:59–81, 1977.
D. Fogel. Evolutionary Intelligence. IEEE Press, 1995.
R.E. Gustavsson. Multi Agent Systems as Open Societies. In this volume.
C.A. Iglesias, M. Garijo, J.C. Gonzalez, and J.R. Velasco. Analysis and Design of Multiagent Systems using MAS-CommonKADS. In this volume.
N.R. Jennings and J.R. Campos. Towards a Social Level Characterization of Socially Responsible Agents. IEEE Proceedings, Software Engineering 144(1):11–25, 1997.
D. Kinney, M. Georgeff, and A. Rao. A Methodology and Modelling Technique for Systems of BDI Agents. In W. Van de Velde and J.W. Perram, editors, Agents Breaking Away: Proceedings of MAAMAW '96, pages 56–71. Berlin: Springer, 1996.
P.N. Kugler and M.T. Turvey. Information, Natural Law, and the Self-Assembly of Rhythmic Movement. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1987.
J. Lee and E.H. Durfee. On Explicit Plan Languages for Coordinating Multiagent Plan Execution. In this volume.
M. Lejter and T. Dean. A Framework for the Development of Multiagent Architectures. IEEE Expert, December, 47-59, 1996.
NASMSB. Unit Manufacturing Processes: Issues and Opportunities in Research. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1995.
M.H. Nodine and A. UnruK Facilitating Open Communication in Agent Systems: the InfoSleuth Infrastructure. In this volume.
H.V.D. Parunak, Workshop Report: Implementing Manufacturing Agents. Sponsored by the Shop Floor Agents Project of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in conjunction with PAAM'96, Westminster Central Hall, London, UK, 25 April 1996. http://www.iti.org/∞van/paamncms.ps
H.V.D. Parunak. Visualizing Agent Conversations: Using Enhanced Dooley Graphs for Agent Design and Analysis. In Proceedings of ICMAS'96, pages 275–282, 1996.
H.V.D. Parunak, Go to the Ant: Engineering Principles from Natural Multi-Agent Systems. Annals of Operations Research, forthcoming. Also http://www.iti.org/∞van/gotoant.ps
M.J. Pont and E. Moreale. Towards a Practical Methodology for Agent-Oriented Software Engineering with C++ and Java. Technical Report 96-33, Leicester University Department of Engineering, Dec. 1996.
G.C. Roman. A Taxonomy of Current Issues in Requirements Engineering. IEEE Computer, April, 14–22, 1985.
J. Rumbaugh, M. Blaha, W. Premerlani, F. Eddy, and W. Lorensen Object-Oriented Modeling and Design. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1991.
M. Schoppers and D. Shapiro. Designing Embedded Agents to Optimize End-User Objectives. In this volume.
M. Singh. A Customizable Coordination Service for Autonomous Agents. In this volume.
L. Steels and R. Brooks, editors. The Artificial Life Route to Artificial Intelligence: Building Embodied, Situated Agents. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995.
J. Treur and M. Willems. Formal Notions for Verification of Dynamics of Knowledge-Based Systems. In M. Ayel and M.C. Rousset, editors, Proceedings of the European Symposium on the Validation and Verification of Knowledge Based Systems, EUROVAV'95, pages 189–199. Chambéry: ADERIAS-LIA, 1995.
T. Wittig, editor. ARCHON: An Architecture for Multi-Agent Systems. New York: Ellis Horwood, 1992.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Parunak, V., Sauter, J., Clark, S. (1998). Toward the specification and design of industrial synthetic ecosystems. In: Singh, M.P., Rao, A., Wooldridge, M.J. (eds) Intelligent Agents IV Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages. ATAL 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1365. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0026749
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0026749
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64162-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69696-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive