Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In the 1990s, multi-agent system (MAS) became a hot research topic in
distributed intelligence. Multi-agent system mainly research on intelligent
behaviors coordination between multi agents. For a common global goal or their
different goals, they share the knowledge of problem and solving approaches and
collaborate for problem solving. Based on the concept of agent, people proposed
a new definition of artificial intelligence: "Artificial intelligence is a branch of
computer science. Its goal is to construct an intelligent agent with showing
certain intelligent behaviors." Therefore, the research on intelligent agent is the
core problem of artificial intelligence. Hayes-Roth from computer science
department of Stanford University said in the special report of the IJCAI'95:
"intelligent computer is the first goal and ultimate goal of the artificial
intelligenceā. Now, the research on intelligent agent not only attracts the concern
of artificial intelligence researchers, but also attract researchers from data
communications,
human-computer
interface
design,
robotics,
concurrent
engineering.
14.2 The Essence of Agent
14.2.1
The concept of agent
In English, term "agent", there are three main meanings: First, referring to the
people accountable for their actions; Second, agent is defined an article to
produce a certain effect, the physical, chemical or biological significance of the
active things; Thirdly, the delegate that a person receiving the commission and
do actions on behalf of other persons. In computer sciences and artificial
intelligence field, an agent can be viewed as an entity which perceives
its
environment through sensors and acts upon that environment through effectors. If
the agent is a person, the sensors have eyes, ears and other organs, hand, legs,
mouth and other parts of the body is the effector. If it is the robot, cameras are
sensor and all moving parts is the effector. Generally, agent has structure as
Figure 14.1.
Generally, agent needs to have part or all of the following characteristics:
(1) Autonomy. This is a basic characteristic of the agent, that is, it can control its
own behavior. The autonomy of the agent is reflected in: the acts of agent
should be active and spontaneous; agent should have its own goals or
intentions. According to the requirements of the goal, and environmental, the