Defining syntax and providing tool support for agent uml using a textual notation

Abstract: An important role in software engineering is played by design notations. The Agent UML (AUML) notation for sequence diagrams has been widely used to capture the design of interactions between agents. However, AUML is not precisely defined, and there is very little in the way of tool support available. We argue that using a textual notation allows the notation to be precisely defined, and facilitates the development of tool support. We present a textual notation that we have developed, and describe a number of tools that support this notation. One of these tools is a ‘renderer ’ which takes a textual AUML protocol and generates the standard graphical view. The layout of graphical elements in the generated graphical view is done automatically, using a layout algorithm which we present

Making logic programs reactive

Logic programming languages based on linear logic have been of recent interest, particularly as such languages provide a logical basis for programs which execute within a dynamic environment. Most of these languages are implemented using standard resolution or backward-chaining techniques. However, there are applications for which the use of forward-chaining techniques within a dynamic environment are appropriate, such as genetic algorithms, active databases and agent-based systems, and for which it is difficult or impossible to specify an appropriate goal in advance. In this paper we discuss the foundations for a forward-chaining approach (or in logic programming parlance, a bottom-up approach) to the execution of linear logic programs, which thus provides forward-chaining within a dynamic environment. In this way it is possible not only to execute programs in a forward-chaining manner, but also to combine forward- and backward-chaining execution. We describe and discuss the appropriate inference rules for such a system, the formal results about such rules, the role of search strategies, and applications

An AgentSpeak meta-interpreter and its applications

A meta-interpreter for a language can provide an easy way of experimenting with modifications or extensions to a language. We give a meta-interpreter for the AgentSpeak language, prove its correctness, and show how the meta-interpreter can be used to extend the AgentSpeak language and to add features to the implementation

Prometheus design tool

The Prometheus Design Tool (PDT) supports the structured design of intelligent agent systems. It supports the Prometheus methodology, but can also be used more generally. This paper outlines the tool and some of its many features

Simplifying the development of intelligent agents

Intelligent agents is a powerful Artificial Intelligence technology which shows considerable promise as a new paradigm for mainstream software development. However, despite their promise, intelligent agents are still scarce in the market place. A key reason for this is that developing intelligent agent software requires significant training and skill: a typical developer or undergraduate struggles to develop good agent systems using the Belief Desire Intention (BDI) model (or similar models). This paper identifies the concept set which we have found to be important in developing intelligent agent systems and the relationships between these concepts. This concept set was developed with the intention of being clearer, simpler, and easier to use than current approaches.We also describe briefly a (very simplified) example from one of the projects we have worked on (RoboRescue), illustrating the way in which these concepts are important in designing and developing intelligent software agents