Distributed Coordination of Heterogeneous Agents Using a Semantic Overlay Network and a Goal-Directed Graphplan Planner

António Luís Lopes and Luís Miguel Botelho

PLOS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-13

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.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0062931

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062931

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