On possibilistic case-based reasoning for selecting partners for multi-attribute agent negotiation

摘要

Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems are, in the judgmentof many observers, the most significant new paradigm for softwaremodelling and development to emerge from Computer Science in thelast two decades. Autonomous Agents are computer programs that areable to decide between different methods of achieving theirprogrammed goals. This is in contrast to the scripted, predefinedbehaviour that a traditional program, for example a Unix Daemon,would exhibit, and means that Autonomous Agents can cope withdynamic environments, can be developed as a quick solution tocomplex problems, and can tailor their behaviour to individualusers in a way that traditional software cannot.>Multi-Agent Systems are computational environments in whichdifferent programs, possibly developed in isolation, canco-ordinate their behaviours to achieve their goals. The technologyof Multi-Agent Systems is, therefore, particularly applicable tomodern operational environments like e-business, ubiquitouscomputing, and,of course, the Internet.>These two topics of research are tightly coupled. For aMulti-Agent System to be fully implemented, it is often necessaryto utilize the technology of Autonomous Agents. For an Agent to actwith true autonomy in a realistic, modern setting, it must often beable to reason about other Agents and co-ordinate its behaviourwith them. It is this insight that has led to the development ofthe AAMAS community and the spectacularly successful series ofconferences that have been running for the last for years.>The AAMAS community has long recognised [Wooldridge &Jennings 1995] that the significance of the abstractions,techniques, tools, and technologies developed by the researchcommunity worldwide will only be recognised if they have practicalapplications in the real world of science, technology, education,healthcare, business, and commerce. The paradigm of AAMAS andavailable agent technologies has reached a significant level ofmaturity, and they are now widely regarded as ready for wideradoption. The purpose of the First Industry Track of the AutonomousAgent and Multi-Agent Systems conference is to provide a forum thatwill bring real world applications that are being developed byteams internationally to the attention of the AAMAS community andthe wider world.>Why is this important? We have identified severalmotivations:>•By disseminating the news of successful application ofAAMAS technology we hope to provide researchers with clear evidenceof the success and usefulness of particular techniques.>•Feedback from attempts to use AAMAS technology isvaluable in the formation of the AAMAS research agenda.>•A forum for discussion of industrial andapplication-orientated concerns has been lacking in the communityto date; by providing one, we hope that practitioners will be ableto share their experiences and, therefore, accelerate the uptake ofAAMAS technology.>•Finally, we expect that, by providing an industrytrack, we will encourage more participation in AAMAS bypractitioners, and that this will lead to a wider understanding ofthe importance of AAMAS technology in commercial organisations.>Fifteen papers that discuss the application of AAMAS technologyare presented in this collection. They were selected by arefereeing process that aimed to find work that made use of theparticular properties of AAMAS systems and had actually been used"in anger." The ratio of submitted to accepted papers was higherthan 2:1; that is, more papers were excluded from presentation thanwere accepted.>The papers that have been selected by the referees and programmecommittee for the track allow the identification of some trends inthe development and application of AAMAS technology. Four out offifteen papers are in the field of transport, traffic, andlogistics. Natural problem decomposition, geographicaldistribution, and requirements for autonomous decision making makethis domain particularly suitable for AAMAS technology.>A further four papers are focused onAerospace applications. Inthis domain, the technological adventurousness of a highlycompetitive and demanding industry may explain the work presented.However, the use of AAMAS technology to provide autonomy forsystems that cannot be easily or cheaply supervised by humanintervention seems to be another clear driver.>Three papers focus on using AAMAS technology for manufacturingapplications. Here, the drivers seem to have been to use AgentAutonomy or co-ordination techniques to provide cost savings,realised by removing large numbers of repetitive management andcontrol tasks.>The track also features papers which describe the use of AAMAStechnology for electricity network management and to provide atraining system for naval personnel. Both of these papers point tocost savings realised by automating decision making processes.>Just as we can see trends in the papers that have been selectedfor publication, it's also interesting to point to missing areas.There are no papers from promising domainsfor AAMAS adoptionincluding telecommunications, internet, pharmaceuticals,eGovernment, or healthcare. Similarl,y the submission rate fromsmall companies and start-ups was expected to be somewhat higher.These are areas that have been explored extensively in the past[Luck et-al 2003] so it is important for the AAMAS community toinvestigate why the research that has been performed has notmatured into published case studies at this time.>Although the collection is diverse, all the papers share twocommon traits. Every paper is the result of the efforts of a teamthat has been prepared to take the risk of adopting a newtechnology in a high pressure environment, and every papersummarises what happens when talented people take a risk and thatrisk pays off. We salute all these pioneers, and look forward tothe presentation of the technical program and the discussions thatare bound to result.