Multi-Agent Programming

Languages, Platforms and Applications

Edited by

Rafael H. Sordini University of Durham

Jürgen Dix Clausthal University of

Technology

Mehdi Dastani Utrecht University

Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni University of Paris IV

Springer

Contents

List of Figures xi

Contributing Authors xv

Preface xxiii

Foreword xxix

Acknowledgments xxxii

Part I Logic- or Process Algebra-based Programming Languages

1 Jason and the Golden Fleece of Agent-Oriented Programming 3 Rafael H. Bordini, Jomi F. Hübner, and Renata Vieira

1.1. Motivation 4 1.2. Language 8

1.2.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 10 1.2.2 Semantics and Verification 13 1.2.3 Software Engineering Issues 21 1.2.4 Other Features of the Language 21

1.3. Platform 25 1.3.1 Main Features of the Jason Platform 25 1.3.2 Available Tools and Documentation 34 1.3.3 Standards Compliance, Interoperability, and Portability 35 1.3.4 Applications Supported by the Language and the Platform 36

1.4. Final Remarks 37

Acknowledgments 37

2 Programming Multi-Agent Systems in 3APL 39 Mehdi Dastani, M. Birna van Riemsdijk, and John-Jules Ch. Meyer

2.1. Motivation 39 2.2. Language 41

2.2.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 42 2.2.2 Semantics and Verification 54 2.2.3 Software Engineering Issues 60 2.2.4 Language integration 63

VI MULTI-AGENT PROGRAMMING

2.3. Platform 63 2.3.1 Available tools and documentation 63 2.3.2 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 65

.2.4. Applications 66 2.5. Final Remarks 66

Acknowledgments 67

3 IMPACT: A Multi-Agent Framework with Declarative Semantics 69 Jürgen Dix and Yingqian Zhang

3.1. Motivation 69 3.2. Language 72

3.2.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 74 3.2.2 Semantics and Verification 78 3.2.3 Software Engineering Issues 82 3.2.4 Other features of the language 83

3.3. Platform 87 3.3.1 Features of the platform 87 3.3.2 Available tools and documentation 92 3.3.3 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 92

3.4. Applications 93

3.5. Final Remarks 93

Acknowledgments 94

4 CLAIM and SyMPA: A Programming Environment for Intelligent and 95

Mobile Agents Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni and Alexandru Suna

4.1. Motivation 95 4.2. Language 97

4.2.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 97 4.2.2 Semantics and Verification 102 4.2.3 Software Engineering Issues 112 4.2.4 Other features of the language 113

4.3. Platform 113 4.3.1 Available tools and documentation 113 4.3.2 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 116 4.3.3 Other features of the platform 116

4.4. Applications 117 4.5. Final Remarks 122

Part II Java-Based Agent Programming Languages

5 JADE — A Java Agent Development Framework 125 Fabio Bellifemine, Federico Bergenti, Giovanni Caire, and Agostino Poggi

Contents Vll

5.1. Motivation 126 5.2. Platform 126

5.2.1 Available tools and documentation 131 5.2.2 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 133 5.2.3 Other features of the platform 133 5.2.4 Realizing multi-agent systems with the platform 134

5.3. Applications 138 5.3.1 CoMMA 138 5.3.2 Agentcities 140 5.3.3 RAP 142

5.4. Final Remarks 147 Acknowledgments 147

6 Jadex: A BDI Reasoning Engine 149 Alexander Pokahr, Lars Braubach, and Winfried Lamersdorf

6.1. Motivation 149 6.2. Architecture 150

6.2.1 BDI Models and Systems 151 6.2.2 Concepts within Jadex 151 6.2.3 Execution Model 154

6.3. Language 156 6.3.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 157 6.3.2 Software Engineering Issues 161 6.3.3 Example 162

6.4. Platform 167 6.4.1 Available tools and documentation 169 6.4.2 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 170

6.5. Applications 172

6.6. Final Remarks 173

Acknowledgments 174

7 JACK™ Intelligent Agents: An Industrial Strength Platform 175 Michael Winikoff

7.1. Motivation 175 7.2. Language 178

7.2.1 Specifications and Syntactical Aspects 178 7.2.2 Semantics and Verification 182 7.2.3 Software Engineering Issues 183 7.2.4 Other features of the language 184

7.3. Platform 185 7.3.1 Available tools and documentation 186 7.3.2 Standards compliance, interoperability and portability 188 7.3.3 Other features of the platform 189

7.4. Applications 190 7.5. JACK: A Platform for Research 192

УШ MULTI-AGENT PROGRAMMING

7.6. Final Remarks 192 Acknowledgments 193

Part III Industrial-Strength Applications

8 The DEFACTO System: Coordinating Human-Agent Teams for the 197

Future of Disaster Response N. Schurr, J.Marecki, J.P. Lewis, M. Tambe, and P. Scerri

8.1. Introduction 198 8.2. Application Domain 199

8.2.1 Omni-Viewer 200 8.2.2 Proxy-based teamwork 203

8.3. Agents 203 8.3.1 Adjustable Autonomy 204

8.4. Multi-Agent System 205 8.4.1 Organisation 207 8.4.2 Interaction 208 8.4.3 MAS Environment 208

8.5. Experiments 209 8.5.1 Evaluation 209

8.6. Related Work and Summary 214 9 ARTIMIS Rational Dialogue Agent Technology: an overview 217 David Sadek

9.1. Introduction 217 9.2. Application domain 218 9.3. ARTIMIS as an autonomous agent 220

9.3.1 Formal rational interaction theory 220 9.3.2 ARTIMIS agent architecture and implementation 228

9.4. ARTIMIS agents in multi-agent systems 234 9.5. Cases of ARTIMIS-based applications 237

9.5.1 ARTIMIS as a natural human-computer dialogue agent 237 9.5.2 ARTIMIS as mediation agent 241

9.6. Conclusion 243

Summaries for Quick Reference and Comparison 245

Appendix A: Comparison Criteria 247 Appendix B: Jason Summary 250 Appendix C: 3APL Summary 253 Appendix D: IMPACT Summary 255 Appendix E: CLAIM Summary 257

Contents ix

Appendix F: JADE Summary 260

Appendix G: Jadex Summary 263

Appendix H: JACK Summary 266

References 269

Index 293