title: Distributed coordination of heterogeneous agents using a semantic overlay network and a goal-directed graphplan planner.
abstract: In this paper, we describe a distributed coordination system that allows agents to seamlessly cooperate in problem solving by partially contributing to a problem solution and delegating the subproblems for which they do not have the required skills or knowledge to appropriate agents. The coordination mechanism relies on a dynamically built semantic overlay network that allows the agents to efficiently locate, even in very large unstructured networks, the necessary skills for a specific problem. Each agent performs partial contributions to the problem solution using a new distributed goal-directed version of the Graphplan algorithm. This new goal-directed version of the original Graphplan algorithm provides an efficient solution to the problem of "distraction", which most forward-chaining algorithms suffer from. We also discuss a set of heuristics to be used in the backward-search process of the planning algorithm in order to distribute this process amongst idle agents in an attempt to find a solution in less time. The evaluation results show that our approach is effective in building a scalable and efficient agent society capable of solving complex distributable problems.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal. alsl@iscte.pt
authors.forename: António Luís
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Luís Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Botelho
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006040:Goals; D011340:Problem Solving; D012660:Semantics; D013997:Time Factors