Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As visibility of attributes depends on multiple factors, the GRAMS
reference model does not distinguish further between
internal
and
external
attributes of an agent.
The domain of an attribute may be arbitrarily complex: an attribute
may be described by a simple numerical value (e. g., length and width
in meters), but it may also be described by complex data types (e.g.,
for representing knowledge of an agent). Of course, such complex
data types may reference specific ontologies or standardized data
models. In this context it is important to note that all knowledge
stored internally by an agent (no matter how complex) is represented
as attributes.
6.6.2 Sensors and effectors
On an informal basis the behavior of a single agent is determined by
the following aspects:
Each agent has a number of
sensors
SEN
EFF
and
effectors
.
All actions of an agent are represented by sensors and effectors.
Each sensor or effector action may consume time.
Sensors and effectors may trigger further sensor and effector actions.
Multiple sensors and effectors may be active
simultaneously
.
This informal description of an agent does not include event handling.
The occurrence of an event can influence an agent and usually triggers
some kind of action within the agent. In the following, sensors and
effectors are discussed in detail.
Definition 18 (Sensor)
A
sensor
provides perception capabilities
to an agent. A sensor
may be triggered by exogenous and endogenous events
and can trigger new endogenous events.
