A distributed model for performance systems: synchronizing plans among intelligent agents via communication
暂无分享,去创建一个
In a society where agents cooperate to achieve certain goals, agents perform their tasks based on certain plans. Some tasks may interact with tasks done by other agents. One way to coordinate those tasks is to let a master planner generate a plan, and then distribute tasks to individual agents. However, given that agents are resource-limited, there are two difficulties with this approach. First, the master planner needs to know all the expertise that each agent has. Second, the master-planning process takes longer than if each agent plans in parallel. Thus, decentralized planning is desirable.
This thesis proposes a model for synchronizing and monitoring plans made independently by intelligent agents via communication during performance cycles. The proposed model allows agents to plan autonomously and then synchronize their plans via a commitment-based communication vehicle. The communication vehicle includes a language, a set of communication operators and a set of commitment tracking operators. The tracking operators provide means to monitor the progress of plan execution, to prevent delays, and to modify plans with less effort when delays happen. In addition, the thesis includes a domain-independent nonlinear planning algorithm that operates autonomously in communication environments. A deadlock detection scheme for reliability assurance is also described. A system named CAP (for Communicative Autonomous Planner) based on the proposed algorithm has been implemented.