Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Communicates world
views, goals, and
potential actions
Plan
Agent 3
Agent 2
Act
Agent 1
Perceive
Fig. 7.3.
Cooperative planning
Plan
Superior
Act
Perceive
Plan
Subordinate
Act
Perceive
Fig. 7.4.
Hierarchical cooperation
This pattern of cooperation occurs on a daily basis in human activities. The
ubiquitous “weekly status meeting” is an opportunity for a group of peo-
ple to share the results of the previous week's activities, discuss individual
and group priorities, and to agree on the activities of each member for the
coming week.
Hierarchical Cooperation
Hierarchical cooperation occurs when the agents have specific responsibili-
ties and authority. In hierarchical cooperation, the superior agents decide the
overall strategy and goals that the subordinate agents are responsible for
achieving. The subordinate agents will, in turn, plan and execute based on
their local view of the domain, and will report their successes and failures to
their superiors.
Figure
7.4
shows one example of hierarchical cooperation. In this exam-
ple, the superior agent plans the activity of the group and its Act step is to