Multi-vehicle systems offer many advantages in engineering applications such as increased efficiency and robustness. However, the disadvantage of multi-vehicle systems is that they require a high level of organization and coordination in order to successfully complete a task. Formation control is a field of engineering that addresses this issue, and provides coordination schemes to successfully implement multi-vehicle systems. Two approaches to group coordination were proposed in this work: geometric and self-organizing formations. A geometric reconfiguring formation was developed using the leader-follower method, and the self-organizing formation was developed using the velocity potential equations from fluid flow theory. Both formation controllers were first tested in simulation in MATLAB, and then implemented on the X80 mobile robot units. Various experiments were conducted to test the formations under difficult obstacle scenarios. The robots successfully navigated through the obstacles as a coordinated as a team using the self-organizing and geometric formation control approaches.

Les protocoles de consensus ont gagné beaucoup d’intérêt ces dernières années. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions les problèmes d’optimisation, de contrôle, et de théorie de jeu qui se posent dans ces protocoles. Tout d’abord, nous étudions les techniques d’optimisation pour des problèmes de sélection de poids permettant ainsi d’augmenter la vitesse de convergence de protocoles de consensus dans les réseaux. Nous proposons de sélectionner les poids en appliquant un algorithme d’approximation: minimisation de la norme p de Schatten de la matrice de poids. Nous caractérisons l’erreur induite par cette approximation et nous montrons que l’algorithme proposé a l’avantage qu’il peut être soit résolu de façon distribuée. Ensuite, nous proposons un cadre conceptuel d’analyse des jeux d’adversaire qui peut ajouter du bruit aux poids utilisés par l’algorithme de consensus de moyenne afin d’éloigner le système de consensus. Nous analysons également la performance des algorithmes de consensus de moyenne où les informations échangées entre les agents voisins sont soumises à la quantification uniforme déterministe (les valeurs réelles envoyées par les nœuds de leurs voisins sont tronquées). Le problème de la terminaison des protocoles de consensus s’avère difficile dans le cadre distribué. Nous proposons un algorithme distribué pour la terminaison des protocoles de consensus. L’algorithme réduit la charge de communication tout en garantissant la convergence vers un consensus. Enfin, nous proposons une mesure de similarité qui évalue la qualité d’un regroupement (clustering) des nœuds dans un réseau. Un algorithme local de clustering basé sur cette métrique est donné. / Consensus protocols have gained a lot of interest in the recent years. In this thesis, we study optimization, control, and game theoretical problems arising in consensus protocols. First, we study optimization techniques for weight selection problems to increase the speed of convergence of discrete-time consensus protocols on networks. We propose to select the weights by applying an approximation algorithm: minimizing the Schatten p-norm of the weight matrix. We characterize the approximation error and we show that the proposed algorithm has the advantage that it can be solved in a totally distributed way. Then we propose a game theoretical framework for an adversary that can add noise to the weights used by averaging protocols to drive the system away from consensus. We give the optimal strategies for the game players (the adversary and the network designer) and we show that a saddle-point equilibrium exists in mixed strategies. We also analyze the performance of distributed averaging algorithms where the information exchanged between neighboring agents is subject to deterministic uniform quantization (e.g., when real values sent by nodes to their neighbors are truncated). Consensus algorithms require that nodes exchange messages persistently to reach asymptotically consensus. We propose a distributed algorithm that reduces the communication overhead while still guaranteeing convergence to consensus. Finally, we propose a score metric that evaluates the quality of clusters such that the faster the random walk mixes in the cluster and the slower it escapes, the higher is the score. A local clustering algorithm based on this metric is proposed.

L'alimentation est une nécessité de base de l'être humain, dont la survie dépend de la quantité et de la qualité de la nourriture ingérée. L'augmentation de la population requiert de plus en plus de nourriture, tandis que la qualité est associée aux contraintes des produits alimentaires comme une courte durée de vie ou la sensibilité à la température. L'augmentation de la demande entraîne une augmentation de la production alimentaire, répartie entre plusieurs sites de production appartenant à plusieurs entreprises de taille variée, qui peuvent utiliser les produits d'autres sites pour fabriquer leurs produits finaux. En outre, certains produits alimentaires doivent être transportés entre les sites et les produits finaux distribués à des détaillants et des consommateurs lointains en tenant compte des contraintes de produits alimentaires. Les activités exercées par ces entités incluent entre autres la production, la distribution, la vente, etc. et ces entités forment conjointement dans l'environnement de l'écosystème alimentaire une chaîne pour le traitement, l'emballage ou la livraison de nourriture. Ce réseau s'appelle une chaîne logistique alimentaire (FSC). En raison de leur nature distribuée, les FSC héritent des problèmes classiques des chaînes logistiques, mais doivent en plus gérer les problèmes découlant de la périssabilité des produits. Cette périssabilité rend extrêmement important le traitement d'enjeux tels que le maintien de la qualité, la prévision de la demande, la gestion des stocks (éviter les ruptures de stock ou les stocks excessifs), l’amélioration de l'efficacité du réapprovisionnement, de la production et du transport, la traçabilité et le suivi pour réagir aux perturbations. Il est donc nécessaire d'établir une collaboration entre les entités principales de l'écosystème alimentaire pour traiter tous ces enjeux. En outre, depuis l'arrivée des entreprises de transport spécialisées, un nouveau acteur a émergé appelé transporteur ou fournisseur de logistique. Ces transporteurs doivent collaborer avec les producteurs, les détaillants et même d'autres transporteurs afin de prendre en compte la demande future et les tendances, afin d'organiser leur réseau et les ressources, pour livrer des produits alimentaires en assurant sécurité et qualité. Ainsi, la collaboration est devenue vitale pour les FSC. La collaboration implique une bonne compréhension des informations échangées afin de minimiser les déplacements, le coût et la pollution environnementale. Des problèmes d'interopérabilité surgissent lorsque les partenaires impliqués utilisent des systèmes hétérogènes et différentes normes et terminologies. Les approches de collaborations existantes comme "Vendor Managed Inventory" (VMI) ou "Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment" (CPFR) ne prennent en compte que deux acteurs de la FSC : le producteur et le détaillant (acheteur et vendeur). En outre, elles ne considèrent pas la planification de la production et des transports comme des tâches de collaboration. En tenant compte des limitations ci-dessus, nous proposons, dans une première partie de cette thèse, une extension du modèle CPFR prennant en compte les aspects production et transport. Ce nouveau modèle C-PRIPT (Collaborative -Planning Replenishment Inventory Production and Transportation) inclut le transporteur et considère la planification de la production et des transports comme des activités de collaboration. Dans la deuxième partie, nous proposons un modèle distribué et interopérable I-POVES (Interoperable - Path Finder, Order, Vehicle, Environment and Supervisor) pour réaliser la planification des transports en collaboration avec les producteurs, les transporteurs et les détaillants, visant à une meilleure utilisation efficace des ressources de transport. Enfin, nous illustrons le fonctionnement du modèle I-POVES en l’appliquant sur un cas étude de chaîne logistique alimentaire. / Eating is human’s basic necessity whose survival depends on both quantity and quality of food. Increasing population requires increasing in quantity of food, while quality is associated with the food product constraints like short shelf-life, temperature sensitiveness, climate etc. Increasing demand causes increase in food production, which is distributed between several production sites involving several distinct entities from small to large enterprises, where sites may use the intermediate products of other sites to produce the final products. Moreover, food products need to be transported between sites and final products to be distributed to faraway retailer sites and consumers considering the food product constraints. Activities performed by these entities include but not limited to: production, distribution, sales, etc. and these entities form jointly in the environment of food ecosystem a chain for food gathering, processing, packaging, delivery etc. This distributed network of enterprises is called food supply chain (FSC). Due to FSC’s distributed nature, it inherits not only the common problems also faced by other supply chain, but in addition has to deal with the problems arising from the perishability of food products. This perishability nature makes extremely important for FSC, the handling of issues such as maintaining the quality of food products, forecasting the product demand, managing the inventory according to the forecast to reduce out of stock or excessive inventory of products, improving the efficiency of replenishment, production and transportation, taking into account product future demand and tracing and tracking to react to disturbance. Finally, it is necessary to institute collaboration between the main entities of food ecosystem to deal with all of these issues. Furthermore, since the advent of specialized transport enterprises, a new actor has emerged called transporter or logistics provider in the FSC. These transporters have to collaborate with producers, retailers and even other transporters within FSC to take into account product future demands and trends to organise their transport network and resources to make possible the delivery of the food products with security, while maintaining the quality of the food products. Thus, collaboration became vital for FSC. Collaboration involves a good understanding of exchanged information in order to minimizing number of transport travels, cost and environmental pollution. Interoperability problem arises when each of the partners involved in FSC uses heterogeneous systems and uses different standards and terminologies for representing locations, product constraints, vehicles types etc. Furthermore, existing collaborative approaches like Quick Response, Efficient Consumer Response, Vendor Managed Inventory, Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), etc. take into account only two types of actors of FSC: buyer and seller (producer and retailer). Additionally, they don’t consider the production and transportation planning as collaborative tasks. Taking into account above limitations, we propose, in the first phase of this thesis, an extension of CPFR model, which take into account production and transportation aspects. This new model C-PRIPT (Collaborative -Planning Replenishment Inventory Production and Transportation) includes transporter actor and elaborates production and transportation planning as collaborative activities. In the second phase, we propose a distributed and interoperable transportation planning model I-POVES (Interoperable - Path Finder, Order, Vehicle, Environment and Supervisor) to realise collaborative transportation planning by collaborating producers, transporters and retailers, aiming at a better use of transport resources. Finally, we illustrate the functioning of I-POVES model by applying it on a case study of food supply chain.

Les communautés virtuelles sont des systèmes sociotechniques dans lesquels des entités (humaines et/ou artificielles) répartis à travers le monde se réunissent autour d’intérêts et/ou d’objectifs communs. Afin de réaliser ces objectifs, les membres de la communauté doivent collaborer en partageant leurs ressources et/ou connaissances. Or, toute collaboration comporte une part de risque dans la mesure où les membres peuvent se comporter de manière non coopérative ou malveillante. Dans de tels contextes, où les mécanismes de sécurité standard ne suffissent plus, la confiance est rapidement devenue un facteur déterminant lors de la prise de décision. Le travail présenté dans cette thèse s’attaque à la problématique de la gestion de la confiance dans les communautés virtuelles ouvertes et décentralisées. Pour cela, nous avons proposé une infrastructure de gestion de la confiance adaptative et conforme socialement (ASC-TMS). L’aspect novateur de ce système réside dans sa faculté à exhiber des propriétés sociales et adaptatives. L’aspect social du ASC-TMS fait référence à la capacité de notre système à prendre des décisions qui soient sûres non seulement pour l’individu mais également et surtout pour les autres membres de la communauté. Par ailleurs, l’aspect adaptatif du système fait référence à la capacité du système à prendre des décisions qui soient en parfaite adéquation avec l’environnement dans lequel ces décisions sont prises. Ainsi, cette thèse constitue une nouvelle étape vers l’automatisation de l’évaluation de la confiance en assistant les membres des communautés virtuelles ouvertes et décentralisées dans leur prise de décision. Le système a été implémenté et déployé en utilisant la plateforme de développement multi-agent JaCaMo. Nous avons également illustré l’applicabilité de notre approche sur un scénario réel de communauté virtuelle d’innovation ouverte. Enfin, nous avons évalué notre système expérimentalement en utilisant la plateforme de simulation multi-agent Repast. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l’utilisation de notre système avait un impact positif sur la dynamique des communautés dans lesquels il est a été utilisé. / Virtual communities (VCs) are socio-technical systems wherein distributed individuals (human and/or artificial) are grouped together around common objectives and goals. In such systems, participants are massively collaborating with each other’s by sharing their private resources and knowledge. A collaboration always bears the risk that one partner exhibits uncooperative or malicious behaviour. Thus, trust is a critical issue for the success of such systems. The work presented in this dissertation addresses the problem of trust management in open and decentralised virtual communities (VCs). To address this problem, we proposed an Adaptive and Socially-Compliant Trust Management System (ASC-TMS). The novelty of ASC-TMS lies in its ability to exhibit social-awareness and context-awareness features. Social-awareness refers to the ability of the trust management system (TMS) to handle the social nature of VCs by making trust evaluations that are collectively harmful, while context-awareness refers to the ability of the system to handle the dynamic nature of VCs by making trust evaluations that are always in adequacy with the context in which these evaluations are undertaken. Thus, the contributions made in this thesis constitute an additional step towards the automation of trust assessment. We provided accordingly a novel trust management system that assists members of open and decentralised virtual communities in their trust decisions. The system has been implemented and deployed using the JaCaMo multi-agent platform. We illustrated also the applicability of on a real life open innovation virtual community scenario. Finally, the ASC-TMS has been experimentally evaluated using the multi-agent based Repast simulation platform. The preliminary results show that the use of our system significantly improves the stability of the virtual communities in which it has been deployed.

La segmentation d’images est une opération cruciale pour le traitement d’images. Elle est toujours le point de départ des processus d’analyse de formes, de détection de mouvement, de visualisation, des estimations quantitatives de distances linéaires, de surfaces et de volumes. À ces fins, la segmentation consiste à catégoriser les voxels en des classes basées sur leurs intensités locales, leur localisation spatiale et leurs caractéristiques de forme ou de voisinage. La difficulté de la stabilité des résultats des méthodes de segmentation pour les images médicales provient des différents types de bruit présents.Dans ces images, le bruit prend deux formes : un bruit physique dû au système d’acquisition, dans notre cas l’IRM (Imagerie par Résonance Magnétique), et le bruit physiologique dû au patient. Ces bruits doivent être pris en compte pour toutes les méthodes de segmentation d’images. Durant cette thèse,nous nous sommes focalisés sur des modèles Multi-Agents basés sur les comportements biologiques des araignées et des fourmis pour effectuer la tâche de segmentation. Pour les araignées, nous avons proposé une approche semi-automatique utilisant l’histogramme de l’image pour déterminer le nombre d’objets à détecter. Tandis que pour les fourmis, nous avons proposé deux approches : la première dite classique qui utilise le gradient de l’image et la deuxième, plus originale, qui utilise une partition intervoxel de l’image. Nous avons également proposé un moyen pour accélérer le processus de segmentation grâce à l’utilisation des GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). Finalement, ces deux méthodes ont été évaluées sur des images d’IRM de cerveau et elles ont été comparées aux méthodes classiques de segmentation : croissance de régions et Otsu pour le modèle des araignées et le gradientde Sobel pour les fourmis. / Image segmentation is a crucial operation for image processing. It is always the starting point of shape analysis process, motion detection, visualization, and quantitative estimation of linear distances, surfaces and volumes. For this, the segmentation consists on classifying the voxels into classes based on their local strengths, their spatial location and shape characteristics or neighborhood. The difficulty of the results stability of segmentation methods for medical images comes from the different types of noise present inside every image. In these images, the noise takes two forms: a physical noise due to the acquisition system, in our case, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and a physiological noise due to the patient. These noises should be considered for all methods of segmentation. In this thesis, we focused on Multi-Agent models based on the biological behavior of spiders and ants to perform the task of segmentation. For spiders, we proposed a semi-automatic method using the histogram of the image to determine the number of objects to be detected. As for ants, we proposed two approaches: one that uses the so-called classical gradient of the image and the second, more original, which uses an intervoxel partition of the image. We also proposed a way to speed up the segmentation process through the use of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). Finally, these two methods were evaluated on MR images of brain and were compared with conventional methods of segmentation: region growing and Otsu for the model of spiders and Sobel gradient for the ants.

Les systèmes multi-agents (SMA) peuvent être utilisé pour modéliser les phénomènes qui peuvent être décomposés en agents qui interagissent et qui existent au sein d'un environnement. Ils peuvent être utilisés pour modéliser les sociétés humaines et animales, aux fins de l'analyse de leurs propriétés par des moyens de calcul. Cette thèse est consacrée à l'analyse automatisée d'un type particulier de ces modèles sociaux, celles qui sont fondées sur les principes comportementalistes, qui contrastent avec les approches cognitives plus dominantes dans la littérature des SMAs. La caractéristique des théories comportementalistes est l'accent mis sur la définition des comportements basée sur l'interaction entre les agents et leur environnement. Non seulement des actions réflexives, mais aussi d'apprentissage, les motivations, et les émotions peuvent être définies. Nous introduisons une architecture formelle d'agent basée sur la théorie d'analyse comportementale de B. F. Skinner, ainsi que une notion appropriée et formelle de l'environnement pour mettre ces agents ensemble dans un SMA. La simulation est souvent utilisée pour analyser les SMAs. Les techniques consistent généralement à simuler le SMA plusieurs fois, soit pour recueillir des statistiques, soit pour voir ce qui se passe à travers l'animation. Toutefois, les simulations peuvent être utilisées d'une manière plus orientée vers la vérification si on considère qu'elles sont en réalité des explorations de grandes espaces d'états. Nous proposons une technique de vérification nouvelle basé sur cette idée, qui consiste à simuler un SMA de manière guidée, afin de vérifier si quelques hypothèses sur lui sont confirmées ou non. À cette fin, nous tirons profit de la position privilégiée que les environnements sont dans les SMAs de cette thèse: la spécification formelle de l'environnement d'un SMA sert à calculer les évolutions possibles du SMA comme un système de transition, établissant ainsi l'espace d'états à vérifier. Dans ce calcul, les agents sont pris en compte en les simulant afin de déterminer, à chaque état de l'environnement, quelles sont leurs actions. Chaque exécution de la simulation est une séquence d'états dans cet espace d'états, qui est calculée à la volée, au fur et à mesure que la simulation progresse. L'hypothèse à étudier, à son tour, est donnée comme un autre système de transition, appelé objectif de simulation, qui définit les simulations désirables et indésirables. Il est alors possible de vérifier si le SMA est conforme à l'objectif de simulation selon un certain nombre de notions de satisfiabilité très précises. Algorithmiquement, cela correspond à la construction d'un produit synchrone de ces deux systèmes de transitions (i.e., celui du SMA et l'objectif de simulation) à la volée et à l'utiliser pour faire fonctionner un simulateur. C'est-à-dire, l'objectif de simulation est utilisé pour guider le simulateur, de sorte que seuls les états concernés sont en réalité simulés. À la fin d'un tel algorithme, il délivre un verdict concluant ou non concluant. Si c'est concluant, il est connu que le SMA est conforme à l'objectif de simulation par rapport aux observations qui ont été faites lors des simulations. Si c'est non-concluant, il est possible d'effectuer quelques ajustements et essayer à nouveau. En résumé, dans cette thèse nous fournissons quatre nouveaux éléments: (i) une architecture d'agent; (ii) une spécification formelle de l'environnement de ces agents, afin qu'ils puissent être composés comme un SMA; (iii) une structure pour décrire les propriétés d'intérêt, que nous avons nommée objectif de simulation, et (iv) une technique pour l'analyse formelle du SMA résultant par rapport à un objectif de simulation. Ces éléments sont mis en œuvre dans un outil, appelé Simulateur Formellement Guidé (FGS, de l'anglais Formally Guided Simulator).Des études de cas exécutables dans FGS sont fournies pour illustrer l'approche. / Multi-agent systems (MASs) can be used to model phenomena that can be decomposed into several interacting agents which exist within an environment. In particular, they can be used to model human and animal societies, for the purpose of analysing their properties by computational means. This thesis is concerned with the automated analysis of a particular kind of such social models, namely, those based on behaviourist principles, which contrasts with the more dominant cognitive approaches found in the MAS literature. The hallmark of behaviourist theories is the emphasis on the definition of behaviour in terms of the interaction between agents and their environment. In this manner, not merely reflexive actions, but also learning, drives, and emotions can be defined. More specifically, in this thesis we introduce a formal agent architecture (specified with the Z Notation) based on the Behaviour Analysis theory of B. F. Skinner, and provide a suitable formal notion of environment (based on the pi-calculus process algebra) to bring such agents together as a MAS. Simulation is often used to analyse MASs. The techniques involved typically consist in implementing and then simulating a MAS several times to either collect statistics or see what happens through animation. However, simulations can be used in a more verification-oriented manner if one considers that they are actually explorations of large state-spaces. In this thesis we propose a novel verification technique based on this insight, which consists in simulating a MAS in a guided way in order to check whether some hypothesis about it holds or not. To this end, we leverage the prominent position that environments have in the MASs of this thesis: the formal specification of the environment of a MAS serves to compute the possible evolutions of the MAS as a transition system, thereby establishing the state-space to be investigated. In this computation, agents are taken into account by being simulated in order to determine, at each environmental state, what their actions are. Each simulation execution is a sequence of states in this state-space, which is computed on-the-fly, as the simulation progresses. The hypothesis to be investigated, in turn, is given as another transition system, called a simulation purpose, which defines the desirable and undesirable simulations (e.g., "every time the agent does X, it will do Y later"). It is then possible to check whether the MAS satisfies the simulation purpose according to a number of precisely defined notions of satisfiability. Algorithmically, this corresponds to building a synchronous product of these two transitions systems (i.e., the MAS's and the simulation purpose) on-the-fly and using it to operate a simulator. That is to say, the simulation purpose is used to guide the simulator, so that only the relevant states are actually simulated. By the end of such an algorithm, it delivers either a conclusive or inconclusive verdict. If conclusive, it becomes known whether the MAS satisfies the simulation purpose w.r.t. the observations made during simulations. If inconclusive, it is possible to perform some adjustments and try again.In summary, then, in this thesis we provide four novel elements: (i) an agent architecture; (ii) a formal specification of the environment of these agents, so that they can be composed into a MAS; (iii) a structure to describe the property of interest, which we named simulation purpose; and (iv) a technique to formally analyse the resulting MAS with respect to a simulation purpose. These elements are implemented in a tool, called Formally Guided Simulator (FGS). Case studies executable in FGS are provided to illustrate the approach.

Aujourd’hui l’environnement connaît des bouleversements fondamentaux dus en grande partie à l’action de l’homme sur les milieux. En effet, tandis que les phénomènes climatiques et biophysiques ont été pendant longtemps les moteurs principaux des transformations des surfaces terrestres, l’Homme est aujourd’hui à l’origine de la majeure partie des transformations qui affectent les écosystèmes terrestres. Ainsi, les pratiques des acteurs du territoire jouent un rôle fondamental sur les modifications de l’usage des sols, et par conséquent sur les écosystèmes environnementaux. L’intensification de l’agriculture entraîne une dégradation des milieux « naturels », et de profonds changements dans les structures paysagères. Dans les régions bocagères, la gestion du réseau de haies joue un rôle déterminant dans la conservation des écosystèmes, de la biodiversité tant faunistique que floristique et également sur la qualité de l’eau, des sols, … Cette thèse, centrée sur les haies bocagères, porte plus particulièrement sur l’identification de pratiques agricoles territorialisées et sur leur organisation spatio‐temporelle. Les objectifs poursuivis dans cette thèse sont d’étudier les pratiques agricoles effectuées sur les haies en Bretagne à travers leurs interactions avec les structures paysagères, et d’en modéliser le fonctionnement, afin de comprendre comment elles influencent la dynamique du paysage.L‘identification et la caractérisation des pratiques agricoles ont été effectuées à partir de l’évaluation de différents types d’images de télédétection à haute et très haute résolution spatiale et de données laser aéroportées LiDAR, en utilisant une approche de classification contextuelle orientée‐objets. La modélisation des pratiques agricoles a été réalisée avec un modèle multi‐agents, afin de prendre en compte la dimension spatiale des jeux d’acteurs pour évaluer l’influence des pratiques agricoles sur l’évolution du réseau de haies. Les résultats de l’observation du réseau bocager à partir des données de télédétection mettent en avant leur complémentarité : la caractérisation de la continuité des haies à un niveau fin est rendue possible grâce aux images à très haute résolution spatiale, tandis que la détermination et la cartographie des pratiques agricoles à l’échelle de l’arbre peut être appréhendée à partir de données laser aéroportées de type LiDAR. L’observation et la caractérisation du réseau de haies ont permis de déterminer l’arrangement spatial des structures boisées en prenant en compte non plus seulement la présence des éléments mais également leur emprise dans le paysage et leur agencement au sein de la dynamique temporelle des successions culturales. Le modèle multi‐agents développé a permis d’analyser l’influence des pratiques agricoles sur la dynamique du paysage, et de déterminer l’importance de décisions prises au niveau local sur l’évolution du réseau de haies à une échelle supérieure / Today the environment is experiencing fundamental changes, largely due to human activity. Indeed, while climate and biophysical phenomena have been the main drivers of land surface transformations for a long time, humans are now responsible for most of the changes affecting terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, the practices of local actors play a key role in land use change and therefore in environmental ecosystems. Intensification of agriculture causes degradation in the “natural” environment and significant changes in landscape structures. In “bocage” regions, hedgerow network management plays a key role in ecosystem conservation, biodiversity, vegetation and wildlife and in the quality of water, soil, etc. This thesis focuses on hedgerows, and especially on the identification of territorialized agricultural practices and their space‐time organization. The objectives of this thesis are to study hedgerow agricultural practices in Brittany through their interactions with landscape structures, and to model their organization, in order to understand how they influence landscape dynamics. The process of identification and characterization of agricultural practices was undertaken by evaluating different types of remote sensing images with high and very high spatial resolution and airborne LiDAR data, using a contextual approach to object‐oriented classification. The modeling of agricultural practices was performed with a multi‐agent model in order to take into account the spatial dimension of actor decisions and to evaluate the influence of agricultural practices on hedgerow network evolution. The results of the hedgerow network analysis using remote sensing data highlight their complementarities: detailed characterization of hedgerow continuity is made possible using high spatial resolution images, while determination and mapping of agricultural practices at the tree scale can be seen from airborne LiDAR data. The process of observation and characterization of the hedgerow network allows determination of the spatial arrangement of the woody structure, by taking into account not only the presence of individual elements, but also their extent in the landscape and their spatial arrangement within crop succession temporal dynamics. The multi‐agent model developed allowed analysis of the influence of agricultural practices on landscape dynamics, and determination of the importance of making local level decisions on the hedgerow network evolution at a larger scale

Os motores de indução trifásicos são os principais elementos de conversão de energia elétrica em mecânica motriz aplicados em vários setores produtivos. Identificar um defeito no motor em operação pode fornecer, antes que ele falhe, maior segurança no processo de tomada de decisão sobre a manutenção da máquina, redução de custos e aumento de disponibilidade. Nesta tese são apresentas inicialmente uma revisão bibliográfica e a metodologia geral para a reprodução dos defeitos nos motores e a aplicação da técnica de discretização dos sinais de correntes e tensões no domínio do tempo. É também desenvolvido um estudo comparativo entre métodos de classificação de padrões para a identificação de defeitos nestas máquinas, tais como: Naive Bayes, k-Nearest Neighbor, Support Vector Machine (Sequential Minimal Optimization), Rede Neural Artificial (Perceptron Multicamadas), Repeated Incremental Pruning to Produce Error Reduction e C4.5 Decision Tree. Também aplicou-se o conceito de Sistemas Multiagentes (SMA) para suportar a utilização de múltiplos métodos concorrentes de forma distribuída para reconhecimento de padrões de defeitos em rolamentos defeituosos, quebras nas barras da gaiola de esquilo do rotor e curto-circuito entre as bobinas do enrolamento do estator de motores de indução trifásicos. Complementarmente, algumas estratégias para a definição da severidade dos defeitos supracitados em motores foram exploradas, fazendo inclusive uma averiguação da influência do desequilíbrio de tensão na alimentação da máquina para a determinação destas anomalias. Os dados experimentais foram adquiridos por meio de uma bancada experimental em laboratório com motores de potência de 1 e 2 cv acionados diretamente na rede elétrica, operando em várias condições de desequilíbrio das tensões e variações da carga mecânica aplicada ao eixo do motor. / The three-phase induction motors are the key elements of electromechanical energy conversion in a variety of productive sectors. Identify a defect in an operating motor can provide, before it fails, greater safety for decision making on machine maintenance, reduce costs and increase process availability. This thesis initially presents a literature review and the general methodology for reproduction of defects in the motors and the application of discretization technique of current and voltage signals in the time domain. It was also developed a comparative study of methods of pattern classification for the identification of defects has been developed in these machines, such as Naive Bayes, k-Nearest Neighbor, Support Vector Machine (Sequential Minimal Optimization), Artificial Neural Network (Multilayer Perceptron), Repeated incremental Pruning to Produce Error Reduction and C4.5 Decision Tree. Also applied the concept of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) to support the use of multiple competing methods in a distributed manner to pattern recognition of faults in bearings, broken rotor bars and stator short-circuit in induction motors. Additionally, some strategies for the definition of the severity of the aforementioned defects in engines have been explored, including making an investigation of the influence of voltage unbalance in the machine feed for the determination of these anomalies. Experimental data are acquired from 1 and 2 cv motors under sinusoidal supply, operating in various unbalance conditions and under a wide range of mechanical load applied to the motor shaft.

Multi-agent systems (MASs) can be used to model phenomena that can be decomposed into several interacting agents which exist within an environment. In particular, they can be used to model human and animal societies, for the purpose of analysing their properties by computational means. This thesis is concerned with the automated analysis of a particular kind of such social models, namely, those based on behaviourist principles, which contrasts with the more dominant cognitive approaches found in the MAS literature. The hallmark of behaviourist theories is the emphasis on the definition of behaviour in terms of the interaction between agents and their environment. In this manner, not merely re exive actions, but also learning, drives, and emotions can be defined. More specifically, in this thesis we introduce a formal agent architecture (specified with the Z Notation) based on the Behaviour Analysis theory of B. F. Skinner, and provide a suitable formal notion of environment (based on the pi-calculus process algebra) to bring such agents together as an MAS. Simulation is often used to analyse MASs. The techniques involved typically consist in implementing and then simulating a MAS several times to either collect statistics or see what happens through animation. However, simulations can be used in a more verification-oriented manner if one considers that they are actually explorations of large state-spaces. In this thesis we propose a novel verification technique based on this insight, which consists in simulating a MAS in a guided way in order to check whether some hypothesis about it holds or not. To this end, we leverage the prominent position that environments have in the MASs of this thesis: the formal specification of the environment of a MAS serves to compute the possible evolutions of the MAS as a transition system, thereby establishing the state-space to be investigated. In this computation, agents are taken into account by being simulated in order to determine, at each environmental state, what their actions are. Each simulation execution is a sequence of states in this state-space, which is computed on-the-fly, as the simulation progresses. The hypothesis to be investigated, in turn, is given as another transition system, called a simulation purpose, which defines the desirable and undesirable simulations (e.g., \"every time the agent does X, it will do Y later\"). It is then possible to check whether the MAS satisfies the simulation purpose according to a number of precisely defined notions of satisfiability. Algorithmically, this corresponds to building a synchronous product of these two transitions systems (i.e., the MAS\'s and the simulation purpose) on-the-fly and using it to operate a simulator. That is to say, the simulation purpose is used to guide the simulator, so that only the relevant states are actually simulated. By the end of such an algorithm, it delivers either a conclusive or an inconclusive verdict. If conclusive, it becomes known whether the MAS satisfies the simulation purpose with respect to the observations made during simulations. If inconclusive, it is possible to perform some adjustments and try again. In summary, then, in this thesis we provide four novel elements: (i) an agent architecture; (ii) a formal specification of the environment of these agents, so that they can be composed into an MAS; (iii) a structure to describe the property of interest, which we named simulation purpose; and (iv) a technique to formally analyse the resulting MAS with respect to a simulation purpose. These elements are implemented in a tool, called Formally Guided Simulator (FGS). Case studies executable in FGS are provided to illustrate the approach. / Sistemas multi-agentes (SMAs) podem ser usados para modelar fenômenos que podem ser decompostos em diversos agentes que interagem entre si dentro de um ambiente. Em particular, eles podem ser usados para modelar sociedades humanas e animais, com a finalidade de se analisar as suas propriedades computacionalmente. Esta tese trata da análise automatizada de um tipo particular de tais modelos sociais, a saber, aqueles baseados em princípios behavioristas, o que contrasta com as abordagens cognitivas mais dominante na literatura de SMAs. A principal característica das teorias behaviorista é a ênfase na descrição do comportamento em termos da interação entre agentes e seu ambiente. Desta forma, não apenas ações refl exivas, mas também de aprendizado, motivações, e as emoções podem ser definidas. Mais especificamente, nesta tese apresentamos uma arquitetura de agentes formal (especificada através da Notação Z) baseada na teoria da Análise do Comportamento de B. F. Skinner, e fornecemos uma noção adequada e formal de ambiente (com base na álgebra de processos pi-calculus) para colocar tais agentes juntos em um SMA. Simulações são freqüentemente utilizadas para se analisar SMAs. As técnicas envolvidas tipicamente consistem em simular um SMA diversas vezes, seja para coletar estatísticas, seja para observar o que acontece através de animações. Contudo, simulações podem ser usadas de forma a pertmitir a realização de verificações automatizadas do SMA caso sejam entendidas como explorações de grandes espaços-de-estados. Nesta tese propomos uma técnica de verificação baseada nessa observação, que consiste em simular um SMA de uma forma guiada, a fim de se determinar se uma dada hipótese sobre ele é verdadeira ou não. Para tal fim, tiramos proveito da importância que os ambientes têm nesta tese: a especificação formal do ambiente de um SMA serve para calcular as evoluções possíveis do SMA como um sistema de transição, estabelecendo assim o espaço-de-estados a ser investigado. Neste cálculo, os agentes são levados em conta simulando-os, a fim de determinar, em cada estado do ambiente, quais são suas ações. Cada execução da simulação é uma seqüência de estados nesse espaço-de-estados, que é calculado em tempo de execução, conforme a simulação progride. A hipótese a ser investigada, por sua vez, é dada como um outro sistema de transição, chamado propósito de simulação, o qual define as simulações desejáveis e indesejáveis (e.g., \"sempre que o agente fizer X, ele fará Y depois\"). Em seguida, é possível verificar se o SMA satisfaz o propósito de simulação de acordo com uma série de relações de satisfatibilidade precisamente definidas. Algoritmicamente, isso corresponde a construir um produto síncrono desses dois sistemas de transições (i.e., o do SMA e o do propósito de simulação) em tempo de execução e usá-lo para operar um simulador. Ou seja, o propósito de simulação é usado para guiar o simulador, de modo que somente os estados relevantes sejam efetivamente simulados. Ao terminar, um tal algoritmo pode fornecer um veredito conclusivo ou inconclusivo. Se conclusivo, descobre-se se o SMA satisfaz ou não o propósito de simulação com relação às observações feitas durante as simulações. Se inconclusivo, é possível realizar alguns ajustes e tentar novamente. em resumo, portanto, nesta tese propomos quatro novos elementos: (i) uma arquitetura de agente, (ii) uma especificação formal do ambiente desses agentes, de modo que possam ser compostos em um SMA, (iii) uma estrutura para descrever a propriedade de interesse, a qual chamamos de propósito de simulação, e (iv) uma técnica para se analisar formalmente o SMA resultante com relação a um propósito de simulação. Esses elementos estão implementados em uma ferramenta, denominada Simulador Formalmente Guiado (FGS, do inglês Formally Guided Simulator). Estudos de caso executáveis no FGS são fornecidos para ilustrar a abordagem.

[pt] A resolução de problemas distribuídos com o uso de sistemas compostos de vários agentes, agrupados em organizações, e que visam objetivos comuns vem ganhando grande atenção da comunidade científica. Este interesse evidencia-se pelo número crescente de iniciativas para a criação de métodos de desenvolvimento e plataformas de implementação de sistema multi-agentes. Algumas plataformas concentram-se no suporte a aspectos específicos destes sistemas, enquanto outras preocupam-se com a criação de uma infra-estrutura completa que permita o desenvolvimento dos agentes e suas organizações. O Web Life é uma arquitetura para a implementação de sistemas multi-agentes para a Web, que auxilia a criação dos agentes e suas organizações, oferecendo toda a infra-estrutura de comunicação, coordenação, tomada de decisões e realização de tarefas necessária a atuação dos agentes. A arquitetura procura aproveitar diversas iniciativas de padronização e de criação de ferramentas para resolução de certos aspectos do problema, agrupando-as sob um framework integrado. A arquitetura promove a evolução da Web no sentido de se tornar uma Web de conteúdos semânticos aptos ao tratamento automático por mecanismos de software - a Web Semântica. / [en] The resolution of distributed problems by applying computer systems composed by agents and organized towards a common objective is attracting the scientific community s attention. This is shown by the increasing number of initiatives for the development of methods and platforms to help constructing multiagent systems. Some platforms concentrate efforts on supporting some multi-agent systems aspects while others try to offer a complete infrastructure for the agents and organizations development. The Web Life architecture offers an implementation platform for developing Web-based multi- agent systems. The architecture is focused on the provision of a complete multi-agent infrastructure with native support for communication, coordination, decision-taking and task-oriented behavior. The incorporation of current under development standards and tools for solving specific problems in multi-agent systems is one of the main objectives of this work. These standards and tools are integrated by the Web Life framework. The architecture try to help the evolution of the Web into a Web with semantic contents that may be automatically processed - the Semantic Web.