Adding Organizations and Roles as Primitives to the JADE Framework

The organization metaphor is often used in the design and implementation of multiagent systems. However, few agent programming languages provide facilities to define them. Several frameworks are proposed to coordinate MAS with organizations, but they are not programmable with general purpose languages. In this paper we extend the JADE framework with primitives to program in Java organizations structured in roles and to enable agents to play roles in organizations. Roles facilitate the coordination of agents inside an organization and give new abilities in the context of organizations, called powers, to the agents which satisfy the requirements necessary to play the roles. As primitives to program organizations and roles we provide classes and protocols which enable an agent to enact a new role in an organization and to interact with the role by invoking the execution of powers, and to receive new goals to be fulfilled. Roles have state and behaviour, thus, they are instances of classes and are strictly connected with the organization offering them. Since roles and organizations can be on a different platform with respect to the role player, the communication with them happens via protocols. Moreover, since, besides using protocols, roles and organizations can have complex behaviours, they are implemented by extending the JADE agent class

BRECCIA: A novel multi-source fusion framework for dynamic geospatial data analysis

Geospatial Intelligence analysis involves the combination of multi-source information expressed in logical form, computational form, and sensor data. Each of these forms has its own way to describe uncertainty or error: e.g., frequency models, algorithmic truncation, floating point roundoff, Gaussian distributions, etc. We propose BRECCIA, a Geospatial Intelligence analysis system, which receives information from humans (as logical sentences), simulations (e.g., weather or environmental predictions), and sensors (e.g. cameras, weather stations, microphones, etc.), where each piece of information has an associated uncertainty; BRECCIA then provides responses to user queries based on a new probabilistic logic system which determines a coherent overall response to the query and the probability of that response; this new method avoids the exponential complexity of previous approaches. In addition, BRECCIA attempts to identify concrete mechanisms (proposed actions) to acquire new data dynamically in order to reduce the uncertainty of the query response. The basis for this is a novel approach to probabilistic argumentation analysis

Web service control of component-based agile manufacturing systems

Current global business competition has resulted in significant challenges for manufacturing and production sectors focused on shorter product lifecyc1es, more diverse and customized products as well as cost pressures from competitors and customers. To remain competitive, manufacturers, particularly in automotive industry, require the next generation of manufacturing paradigms supporting flexible and reconfigurable production systems that allow quick system changeovers for various types of products. In addition, closer integration of shop floor and business systems is required as indicated by the research efforts in investigating "Agile and Collaborative Manufacturing Systems" in supporting the production unit throughout the manufacturing lifecycles. The integration of a business enterprise with its shop-floor and lifecycle supply partners is currently only achieved through complex proprietary solutions due to differences in technology, particularly between automation and business systems. The situation is further complicated by the diverse types of automation control devices employed. Recently, the emerging technology of Service Oriented Architecture's (SOA's) and Web Services (WS) has been demonstrated and proved successful in linking business applications. The adoption of this Web Services approach at the automation level, that would enable a seamless integration of business enterprise and a shop-floor system, is an active research topic within the automotive domain. If successful, reconfigurable automation systems formed by a network of collaborative autonomous and open control platform in distributed, loosely coupled manufacturing environment can be realized through a unifying platform of WS interfaces for devices communication. The adoption of SOA- Web Services on embedded automation devices can be achieved employing Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS) protocols which encapsulate device control functionality as provided services (e.g. device I/O operation, device state notification, device discovery) and business application interfaces into physical control components of machining automation. This novel approach supports the possibility of integrating pervasive enterprise applications through unifying Web Services interfaces and neutral Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message communication between control systems and business applications over standard Ethernet-Local Area Networks (LAN's). In addition, the re-configurability of the automation system is enhanced via the utilisation of Web Services throughout an automated control, build, installation, test, maintenance and reuse system lifecycle via device self-discovery provided by the DPWS protocol...cont'd

Concerns como componentes reutilizáveis em simulações baseadas em agentes de software

A modelagem e simulação baseada em agentes, ou Agent-based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS), é um paradigma de simulação que usa agentes simulados para reproduzir e estudar eventos específicos. A partir deste modelo, é possível observar o comportamento de um agente inserido em um conjunto de indivíduos autônomos. Entre as áreas de aplicação pode-se citar desastres, gerenciamento ambiental, mobilidade e transporte. Apesar do seu potencial, muitas ferramentas disponíveis atualmente que suportam ABMS não possuem recursos para facilitar o reuso dos elementos de uma simulação. Há uma abordagem de desenvolvimento dirigida a modelos focada em ABMS com potencial para o reuso. Esta abordagem inclui uma linguagem específica de domínio chamada ABStractLang e a ferramenta que implementa a linguagem, denominada ABStractme. Esta monografia propõe a extensão desta abordagem, a partir do refinamento de um conceito previamente definido -concern - para a modularização de simulações. Este refinamento visa o reuso de concerns desenvolvidos em diversas simulações, a partir da definição de sua interface. Por fim, a ferramenta ABStractme, que dá suporte à abordagem dirigida a modelos, foi evoluída para incorporar a extensão proposta.Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is a simulation paradigm where simulated agents are used to reproduce specific events so that they can be studied. With this model it is possible to observe the behavior of an agent inserted in a set of autonomous individuals. Areas of application include disasters, environmental management, mobility and transportation. Despite its potential, most tools currently available that support ABMS do not have the capabilities to facilitate the reuse of the elements of a simulation. There is a model-driven approach to development focused on ABMS with potential for reuse. This approach includes a domain-specific language called ABStractLang and the tool that implements the language, called ABStractme. This monograph proposes the extension of this approach with the refinement of a previously defined concept - emph concern - for the modularization of simulations. This refinement aims at the reuse of emph concerns developed in several simulations, from the definition of its interface. Also, the tool ABStractme that supports the model-driven approach has evolved to incorporate the extension proposed

Component-based software architectures and multi-agent systems: mutual and complementary contributions for supporting software development

Dans cette thèse, nous explorons les diverses contributions que les systèmes multi-agents (SMA) et les architectures à base de composants (CBSA) peuvent mutuellement et complémentairement s'apporter l'un à l'autre. Dans un premier temps, nous définissons, illustrons, analysons et discutons une méthodologie du développement des SMA, un modèle de composants (SpeAD), un langage de description d'architecture (SpeADL) et une méthode de conception (SpEArAF) qui facilitent et guident la description et l'implémentation des SMA. Cette réponse complète au développement des SMA est assistée par un outil (MAY) et a été appliquée à un grand nombre d'applications. Dans un second temps, nous explorons à travers divers expériences l'aide que peuvent apporter les SMA auto-adaptatif aux CBSA. Les agents et leur réorganisation continuelle jouent à la fois le rôle de moteur de la construction et de l'adaptation dynamique de l'architecture, mais aussi du conteneur qui connecte ses éléments en pratique.In this thesis, we explore the various aspects of the mutual and complementary contributions that multi-agent systems (MASs) and component-based software architectures (CBSAs) can provide to each other. On one hand, we define, illustrate, analyse and discuss an architecture-oriented methodology of MAS development, a component model (SpeAD), an architectural description language (SpeADL) and a design method (SpEArAF) that ease and guide the description and the implementation of MASs. This complete answer to MAS development is supported by a tool (MAY) and has been applied to many applications. On the other hand, we explore through various experiments how self-adaptive MASs can be used to support CBSAs. The agents and their continuous reorganisation act both as the engine of the construction and of the dynamic adaptation of the architecture, and as the runtime container that practically connects its elements together

Grounding the Interaction : Knowledge Management for Interactive Robots

Avec le développement de la robotique cognitive, le besoin d’outils avancés pour représenter, manipuler, raisonner sur les connaissances acquises par un robot a clairement été mis en avant. Mais stocker et manipuler des connaissances requiert tout d’abord d’éclaircir ce que l’on nomme connaissance pour un robot, et comment celle-ci peut-elle être représentée de manière intelligible pour une machine. \ud \ud Ce travail s’efforce dans un premier temps d’identifier de manière systématique les besoins en terme de représentation de connaissance des applications robotiques modernes, dans le contexte spécifique de la robotique de service et des interactions homme-robot. Nous proposons une typologie originale des caractéristiques souhaitables des systèmes de représentation des connaissances, appuyée sur un état de l’art détaillé des outils existants dans notre communauté. \ud \ud Dans un second temps, nous présentons en profondeur ORO, une instanciation particulière d’un système de représentation et manipulation des connaissances, conçu et implémenté durant la préparation de cette thèse. Nous détaillons le fonctionnement interne du système, ainsi que son intégration dans plusieurs architectures robotiques complètes. Un éclairage particulier est donné sur la modélisation de la prise de perspective dans le contexte de l’interaction, et de son interprétation en terme de théorie de l’esprit. \ud \ud La troisième partie de l’étude porte sur une application importante des systèmes de représentation des connaissances dans ce contexte de l’interaction homme-robot : le traitement du dialogue situé. Notre approche et les algorithmes qui amènent à l’ancrage interactif de la communication verbale non contrainte sont présentés, suivis de plusieurs expériences menées au Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes au CNRS à Toulouse, et au groupe Intelligent Autonomous System de l’université technique de Munich. Nous concluons cette thèse sur un certain nombre de considérations sur la viabilité et l’importance d’une gestion explicite des connaissances des agents, ainsi que par une réflexion sur les éléments encore manquant pour réaliser le programme d’une robotique “de niveau humain”.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------With the rise of the so-called cognitive robotics, the need of advanced tools to store, manipulate, reason about the knowledge acquired by the robot has been made clear. But storing and manipulating knowledge requires first to understand what the knowledge itself means to the robot and how to represent it in a machine-processable way. \ud \ud This work strives first at providing a systematic study of the knowledge requirements of modern robotic applications in the context of service robotics and human-robot interaction. What are the expressiveness requirement for a robot? what are its needs in term of reasoning techniques? what are the requirement on the robot's knowledge processing structure induced by other cognitive functions like perception or decision making? We propose a novel typology of desirable features for knowledge representation systems supported by an extensive review of existing tools in our community. \ud \ud In a second part, the thesis presents in depth a particular instantiation of a knowledge representation and manipulation system called ORO, that has been designed and implemented during the preparation of the thesis. We elaborate on the inner working of this system, as well as its integration into several complete robot control stacks. A particular focus is given to the modelling of agent-dependent symbolic perspectives and their relations to theories of mind. \ud \ud The third part of the study is focused on the presentation of one important application of knowledge representation systems in the human-robot interaction context: situated dialogue. Our approach and associated algorithms leading to the interactive grounding of unconstrained verbal communication are presented, followed by several experiments that have taken place both at the Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes at CNRS, Toulouse and at the Intelligent Autonomous System group at Munich Technical University. \ud \ud The thesis concludes on considerations regarding the viability and importance of an explicit management of the agent's knowledge, along with a reflection on the missing bricks in our research community on the way towards "human level robots". \ud \u

Contributions for the exploitation of Semantic Technologies in Industry 4.0

120 p.En este trabajo de investigación se promueve la utilización de las tecnologías semánticas, en el entorno de la Industria 4.0, a través de tres contribuciones enfocadas en temas correspondientes a la fabricación inteligente: las descripciones enriquecidas de componentes, la visualización y el análisis de los datos, y la implementación de la Industria 4.0 en PyMEs.La primera contribución es una ontología llamada ExtruOnt, la cual contiene descripciones semánticas de un tipo de máquina de fabricación (la extrusora). En esta ontología se describen los componentes, sus conexiones espaciales, sus características, sus representaciones en tres dimensiones y, finalmente, los sensores utilizados para capturar los datos. La segunda contribución corresponde a un sistema de consulta visual en el cual se utiliza la ontología ExtruOnt y una representación en 2D de la extrusora para facilitar a los expertos de dominio la visualización y la extracción de conocimiento sobre el proceso de fabricación de una manera rápida y sencilla. La tercera contribución consiste en una metodología para la implementación de la Industria 4.0 en PyMEs, orientada al ciclo de vida del cliente y potenciada por el uso de tecnologías Semánticas y tecnologías de renderizado 3D.Las contribuciones han sido desarrolladas, aplicadas y validadas bajo un escenario de fabricación real