CH558 Software Agent (Software Agent Technology and Multi-agent Systems) Spring Semester, 2005 Dept. of Computer Science Yonsei University

Multi-agent Systems 4 have emerged as one of the most important areas of research and development in information technology in the 1990s. 4 are composed of multiple interacting software components known as agents, which are typically capable of cooperating to solve problems that are beyond the abilities of any individual member. 4 are important primarily because they have been found to have very wide applicability, in areas as diverse as industrial process control and electronic commerce.

Course Objectives 4 to introduce the student to the concept of an agent and multi-agent system, and the main applications for which they are appropriate; 4 to introduce the main issues surrounding the design of intelligent agents; 4 to introduce the main issues surrounding the design of a multi-agent society; 4 to introduce a contemporary platform for implementing agents and multi-agent systems.

Learning Outcomes 4 Upon completing this course, a student will: –understand the notion of an agent, how agents are distinct from other software paradigms (e.g., objects), and understand the characteristics of applications that lend themselves to an agent- oriented solution; –understand the key issues associated with constructing agents capable of intelligent autonomous action, and the main approaches taken to developing such agents; –understand the key issues in designing societies of agents that can effectively cooperate in order to solve problems, including an understanding of the key types of multi-agent interactions possible in such systems; –understand the main application areas of agent-based solutions, and be able to develop a meaningful agent-based system using a contemporary agent development platform.

Contact 4 Instructor –Prof. Sung-Bae Cho (Eng. C515;  ; 4 Web-page : 4 Class hours –Mon 10:00 ~ 10:50, Wed 10:00~11:50 (Eng. C520) 4 Office hour –Thu 1:00 ~ 3:00 pm 4 TA –Mr. Jin-Hyuk Hong

4 Textbook –[Woo] M. Wooldridge, An Introduction to MultiAgent Systems. John Wiley & Sons, ISBN X. –[SAT] 4 References –Jeffrey M. Bradshaw (Ed), Software Agents, MIT Press, 1997 –Michael N. Huhns, Munindar P. Singh, Readings in Agents, Morgan Kaufmann, 1998 –Jacques Ferber, Multi-Agent Systems, Addison-Wesley, 1999 –Akira Namatame (Ed), Agent-based Approaches in Economic and Social Complex Systems, 2002 –Related Conference Proceedings (IJCAI, AAAI, PRICAI, IAT, etc) –UMBC site : –MIT site : Course Materials

Course Schedule 1. 3/2 : Course Introduction 2. 3/7, 9 : Visions of Agents (SAT, Ch1), Intro. Multiagent Systems (Woo, Ch1) 3. 3/14, 16 : Classes of Agents (SAT, Ch2), Intelligent Agents (Woo, Ch2) 4. 3/21, 23 : Technical Issues (SAT, Ch3), Deductive Reasoning Agents (Woo, Ch3) 5. 3/28, 30 : Agent Architecture (SAT, Ch4), Practical Reasoning (Woo, Ch4) 6. 4/4, 6 : No Lecture (Project Proposal) 7. 4/11, 13 : User Interface Agents (SAT, Ch5), Reactive & Hybrid (Woo, Ch5) 8. 4/18 : 중간시험 9. 4/25, 27 : FIPA (SAT, Ch6), Multiagent Interactions (Woo, Ch6) 10. 5/2, 4 : Agent Communications (SAT, Ch7), Reaching Agreements (Woo, Ch7) 11. 5/9, 11 : Ontologies (SAT, Ch8), Agent Communication (Woo, Ch8) 12. 5/16, 18 : BDI (SAT, Ch9), Working Together (Woo, Ch9) 13. 5/23, 25 : Profiles (SAT, Ch10), Methodologies (Woo, Ch10) 14. 5/30, 6/1 : Agents in Mobile Devices (SAT, Ch11), Applications (Woo, Ch11) 15. 6/8 : Project Presentation 16. 6/13 : 기말시험

Evaluation Criteria 4 Evaluation Criteria –Term Project (written report and an oral presentation): 40% –Mid and Final Exams: 30% –Homeworks and Class Participation : 30% 4 Term Project (Oral presentation is required) : –Theoretical Issue (Analysis, Experiment, Simulation) : Originality –Interesting Programming (Game, Demo, etc) : Performance –Survey : Completeness

List of Possible Projects 4 Conversational agents 4 Artificial-life agents 4 Intelligent agents for mobile devices 4 Inference and prediction for agents 4 Service discovery agents 4 Game agents 4 Semantic modeling for agents 4 Distributed information agents (Amalthae, Anarchid) 4 Personalized information agents 4 Avatar 4 …

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