Competitions of Multi-agent Systems for Teaching Artificial Intelligence

This paper presents an approach based on competitions of multi-agent systems as the basis for teaching advanced topics in Artificial Intelligence. The method was applied in the Cognitive Robotics course with students of the 5th-year in Computer Science from the University of Mumbai in India, in the domain of Soccer. The championships are played between different teams to allow students to assess and compare the results. The motivation that is reached is fundamental for creating interest in the study of Artificial Intelligence techniques and in research. The developed experiences are described, as well as an analysis of the method and its impact for the academy and the research.