Deciding Task Schedules for Temporal Planning via Auctions ∗

We present an auction-based approach to allocate tasks that have complex time constraints and interdependencies to a group of cooperative agents. The approach combines the advantages of planning and scheduling with the ability to make distributed decisions. We focus on methods for modeling and evaluating the decisions an agent must make when deciding how to schedule tasks. In particular, we discuss how to specify task schedules when requesting quotes from other agents. The way tasks are scheduled affects the number and types of bids received, and therefore the quality of the solutions that can be produced

Deciding Task Schedules for Temporal Planning via Auctions ∗

We present an auction-based approach to allocate tasks that have complex time constraints and interdependencies to a group of cooperative agents. The approach combines the advantages of planning and scheduling with the ability to make distributed decisions. We focus on methods for modeling and evaluating the decisions an agent must make when deciding how to schedule tasks. In particular, we discuss how to specify task schedules when requesting quotes from other agents. The way tasks are scheduled affects the number and types of bids received, and therefore the quality of the solutions that can be produced