3 research outputs found
Distributed Constraint Problems for Utilitarian Agents with Privacy Concerns, Recast as POMDPs
Privacy has traditionally been a major motivation for distributed problem
solving. Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem (DisCSP) as well as
Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem (DCOP) are fundamental models used
to solve various families of distributed problems. Even though several
approaches have been proposed to quantify and preserve privacy in such
problems, none of them is exempt from limitations. Here we approach the problem
by assuming that computation is performed among utilitarian agents. We
introduce a utilitarian approach where the utility of each state is estimated
as the difference between the reward for reaching an agreement on assignments
of shared variables and the cost of privacy loss. We investigate extensions to
solvers where agents integrate the utility function to guide their search and
decide which action to perform, defining thereby their policy. We show that
these extended solvers succeed in significantly reducing privacy loss without
significant degradation of the solution quality
Foundations of Trusted Autonomy
Trusted Autonomy; Automation Technology; Autonomous Systems; Self-Governance; Trusted Autonomous Systems; Design of Algorithms and Methodologie
Fuelling the zero-emissions road freight of the future: routing of mobile fuellers
The future of zero-emissions road freight is closely tied to the sufficient availability of new and clean fuel options such as electricity and Hydrogen. In goods distribution using Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECVs) and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs) a major challenge in the transition period would pertain to their limited autonomy and scarce and unevenly distributed refuelling stations. One viable solution to facilitate and speed up the adoption of ECVs/HFCVs by logistics, however, is to get the fuel to the point where it is needed (instead of diverting the route of delivery vehicles to refuelling stations) using "Mobile Fuellers (MFs)". These are mobile battery swapping/recharging vans or mobile Hydrogen fuellers that can travel to a running ECV/HFCV to provide the fuel they require to complete their delivery routes at a rendezvous time and space. In this presentation, new vehicle routing models will be presented for a third party company that provides MF services. In the proposed problem variant, the MF provider company receives routing plans of multiple customer companies and has to design routes for a fleet of capacitated MFs that have to synchronise their routes with the running vehicles to deliver the required amount of fuel on-the-fly. This presentation will discuss and compare several mathematical models based on different business models and collaborative logistics scenarios