Multi-Agent Programming Contest
Encyclopedia
The Multi-Agent Programming Contest is an annual international programming competition with stated goal of stimulating research in the area of multi-agent system
development and programming
.
), Mehdi Dastani (University Utrecht) and Peter Novák (Czech Technical University in Prague
) have brought the contest into being and running. The competition originally focused on Logic programming
of Multi-agent system
s. The goals, raised in 2005, have proven to be a solid basis for multi-agent system development and are still valid:
In 2007, a third goal has been added:
Although it is necessary to find a solution for the contest quest to win, the organizers pursue the intention that the solution is a system of cooperating autonomous programs
that achieve the objectives together. They are also interested in how the contest participants develop the solution.
. They are also afraid of cowboys and try and run away. This scenario was used in 2008, 2009 and 2010. For the last two years, gates were introduced to make the scenario more challenging.
Multi-agent system
A multi-agent system is a system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents. Multi-agent systems can be used to solve problems that are difficult or impossible for an individual agent or a monolithic system to solve...
development and programming
Agent-oriented programming
Agent-oriented programming is a programming paradigm introduced by Yoav Shoham in 1990 . In contrast to object-oriented programming paradigms where objects have many methods with variable parameters to them, agent-oriented objects typically have just one method, with a single parameter...
.
History
In 2005 Jürgen Dix (Clausthal University of TechnologyClausthal University of Technology
The Clausthal University of Technology is an institute of technology in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany...
), Mehdi Dastani (University Utrecht) and Peter Novák (Czech Technical University in Prague
Czech Technical University in Prague
Czech Technical University in Prague is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic, and the oldest institute of technology in Central Europe....
) have brought the contest into being and running. The competition originally focused on Logic programming
Logic programming
Logic programming is, in its broadest sense, the use of mathematical logic for computer programming. In this view of logic programming, which can be traced at least as far back as John McCarthy's [1958] advice-taker proposal, logic is used as a purely declarative representation language, and a...
of Multi-agent system
Multi-agent system
A multi-agent system is a system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents. Multi-agent systems can be used to solve problems that are difficult or impossible for an individual agent or a monolithic system to solve...
s. The goals, raised in 2005, have proven to be a solid basis for multi-agent system development and are still valid:
- Identification of key problems
- To collect suitable benchmarks.
In 2007, a third goal has been added:
- To gather test cases which require and enforce coordinated action.
Although it is necessary to find a solution for the contest quest to win, the organizers pursue the intention that the solution is a system of cooperating autonomous programs
Software agent
In computer science, a software agent is a piece of software that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency, which derives from the Latin agere : an agreement to act on one's behalf...
that achieve the objectives together. They are also interested in how the contest participants develop the solution.
Food collectors
Agents have to look for food and bring it to a depot on a two-dimensional grid world. Each cell can contain an agent, or food. The agents can only see a small part of the map. Initially there is no food available, it appears randomly during the game, so that agents need to search the map constantly in order to win. This scenario was used in 2005.Gold miners
On a grid based map, teams of agents look for gold and transport it to the depot. As opposed to the food scenario, cells can also contain trees which block the agents and can form more or less complex labyrinths. Also, there are now two opposing teams competing for the gold. This scenario was used in the contests of 2006 and 2007. In 2007, the scenario was extended to allow the agents to carry more than one piece of gold, and to push opposing agents aside.Cowboys
A grid based map contains trees, corrals, cows and agents. Two opposing teams try to drive as many cows as possible in ones corral. Cows behave using Swarm intelligenceSwarm intelligence
Swarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
. They are also afraid of cowboys and try and run away. This scenario was used in 2008, 2009 and 2010. For the last two years, gates were introduced to make the scenario more challenging.