A framework for constructing multi-agent applications and training intelligent agents

By P.A. Mitkas, D. Kehagias, A.L. Symeonidis & I.N. Athanasiadis
In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Agent Oriented Software Engineering IV), 2935:96-109, 2004.

Abstract:
Cover image As agent-oriented paradigm is reaching a significant level of acceptance by software developers, there is a lack of integrated high level abstraction tools for the design and development of agent-based applications. In an effort to mitigate this deficiency, we introduce Agent Academy, an integrated development framework, implemented itself as a multi-agent system, that supports, in a single tool, the design of agent behaviours and reusable agent types, the definition of ontologies, and the instantiation of single agents or multi-agent communities. In addition to these characteristics, our framework goes deeper into agents, by implementing a mechanism for embedding rule-based reasoning into them. We call this procedure "agent training" and it is realized by the application of AI techniques for knowledge discovery on application-specific data, which may be available to the agent developer. In this respect, Agent Academy provides an easy-to-use facility that encourages the substitution of existing, traditionally developed applications by new ones, which follow the agent-orientation paradigm.

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