Multi-agent Systems (MAS) provide an increasingly relevant field of research due to their many applications to modelling real world situations where the behaviour of many individual, self-motivated, agents must be reasoned about and controlled. The problem of agent social reasoning is central to MAS, where an agent reasons about its actions and interactions with other agents. This is the most important component of MAS, as it is the interactions, cooperation and competition between agents that make MAS a powerful approach suited for tackling many complex problems. Existing work focuses either on specific types of social reasoning or general purpose agent practical reasoning - reasoning directed toward actions. This thesis argues that social reasoning should be considered separately from practical reasoning. There are many possible benefits to this separation compared to existing approaches. Principally, it can allow general algorithms for agent implementation, analysis and bounded reasoning. This viewpoint is motivated by the desire to implement social reasoning agents and allow for a more general theory of social reasoning in agents. This thesis presents the novel Expectation- Strategy-Behaviour (ESB) framework for social reasoning, which provides a generic way to specify and execute agent reasoning approaches. ESB is a powerful tool, allowing an agent designer to write expressive social reasoning specifications and have a computational model generated automatically. Through a formalism and description of an implemented reasoner based on this theory it is shown that it is possible and beneficial to implement a social reasoning engine as a complementary component to practical reasoning. By using ESB to specify, and then implement, existing social reasoning schemes for joint commitment and normative reasoning, the framework is shown to be a suitable general reasoner. Examples are provided of how reasoning can be bounded in an ESB agent and the mechanism to allow analysis of agent designs is discussed. Finally, there is discussion on the merits of the ESB solution and possible future work.

This thesis proposes a holistic and hierarchical architecture to Multi-agent System design, in order to resolve the collaboration problem in diabetic healthcare system. A diabetic healthcare system is a complex and social system in the case that it involves many actors and interrelations. Collaborations among various healthcare actors are vital to the quality of diabetic healthcare. The collaboration problem is manifested by the problems of accessibility and interoperability. To support the collaboration in diabetic healthcare as such a complex and social system, the MAS must have corresponding social entities and relationships. Therefore, it is assumed that theories explaining social activity can be applied to design of MAS. Activity Theory, specifically its holistic triangle model from Engström and hierarchy thinking, provides theoretical supports to the design of individual agent architecture and MAS coordination mechanism. It is argued that the holistic and hierarchical aspects should be designed in a MAS when applied to the healthcare setting. The diabetic healthcare system is analyzed on three levels based on the hierarchy thinking. The collaboration problem is analyzed and resolved via MAS coordination. Based on the holistic activity model in Activity Theory, Müller’s Vertical Layered Architecture is re-conceptualized in the Control Unit and Knowledge Base design. It is also argued that autonomy, adaptivity and persona should be especially focused when designing the interaction between an agent system and human users. This study has firstly identified some important social aspects and the technical feasibility of embedding those identified social aspects in agent architecture design. Secondly, a MAS was developed to illustrate how to apply the proposed architecture to design a MAS to resolve the collaboration problem in diabetic healthcare system. We have designed and implemented an agent system – IMAS (Integrated Multi-agent System) to validate the research questions and contributions. IMAS system provides real time monitoring, diabetic healthcare management and decision supports to the diabetic healthcare actors. A user assessment has been conducted to validate that the quality of the current diabetic healthcare system can be improved with the introduction of IMAS.

As multi-agent systems (MAS) have become more mature and systems in general have become more distributed, it is necessary for those who want to build large scale systems to consider, in some computational depth, how agents can communicate in large scale, complex and distributed systems. Currently, some MAS systems have been developed to use an abstract specification language for argumentation. This as a basis for agent communication; to provide effective decision support for agents and yield better agreements. However, as we build complete MAS that involve argumentation, there is a need to produce concrete implementations in which these abstract specifications are realised via protocols coordinating agent behaviour. This creates a gap between standard argument specification and deployment of protocols. This thesis attempts to close this gap by using a combination of automated synthesis and verification methods. More precisely, this thesis proposes a means of moving rapidly from argument specification to protocol implementation using an extension of the Argument Interchange Format (AIF is a generic specification language for argument structure) called a Dialogue Interaction Diagram (DID) as the dialogue game specification language and the Lightweight Coordination Calculus (LCC is an executable specification language used for coordinating agents in open systems) as an implementation language. The main contribution of this research is to provide approaches for enabling developers of dialogue game argumentation systems to use specification languages (in our case AIF/DID) to generate agent protocol systems that are capable of direct implementation on open infrastructures (in our case LCC).

In this thesis, new algorithms for formation control of multi agent systems (MAS) based on continuum mechanics principles will be investigated. For this purpose agents of the MAS are treated as particles in a continuum, evolving in an n-D space, whose desired configuration is required to satisfy an admissible deformation function. Considered is a specific class of mappings that is called homogenous where the Jacobian of the mapping is only a function of time and is not spatially varying. The primary objectives of this thesis are to develop the necessary theory and its validation via simulation on a mobile-agent based swarm test bed that includes two primary tasks: 1) homogenous transformation of MAS and 2) deployment of a random distribution of agents on to a desired configuration. Developed will be a framework based on homogenous transformations for the evolution of a MAS in an n-D space (n=1, 2, and 3), under two scenarios: 1) no inter-agent communication (predefined motion plan); and 2) local inter-agent communication. Additionally, homogenous transformations based on communication protocols will be used to deploy an arbitrary distribution of a MAS on to a desired curve. Homogenous transformation with no communication: A homogenous transformation of a MAS, evolving in an space, under zero inter agent communication is first considered. Here the homogenous mapping, is characterized by an n x n Jacobian matrix ( ) and an n x 1 rigid body displacement vector ( ), that are based on positions of n+1 agents of the MAS, called leader agents. The designed Jacobian ( ) and rigid body displacement vector ( ) are passed onto rest of the agents of the MAS, called followers, who will then use that information to update their positions under a pre- iv defined motion plan. Consequently, the motion of MAS will evolve as a homogenous transformation of the initial configuration without explicit communication among agents. Homogenous Transformation under Local Communication: We develop a framework for homogenous transformation of MAS, evolving in , under a local inter agent communication topology. Here we assume that some agents are the leaders, that are transformed homogenously in an n-D space. In addition, every follower agent of the MAS communicates with some local agents to update its position, in order to grasp the homogenous mapping that is prescribed by the leader agents. We show that some distance ratios that are assigned based on initial formation, if preserved, lead to asymptotic convergence of the initial formation to a final formation under a homogenous mapping. Deployment of a Random Distribution on a Desired Manifold: Deployment of agents of a MAS, moving in a plane, on to a desired curve, is a task that is considered as an application of the proposed approach. In particular, a 2-D MAS evolution problem is considered as two 1-D MAS evolution problems, where x or y coordinates of the position of all agents are modeled as points confined to move on a straight line. Then, for every coordinate of MAS evolution, bulk motion is controlled by two agents considered leaders that move independently, with rest of the follower agents motions evolving through each follower agent communicating with two adjacent agents.

Cette recherche se place dans le domaine de l’ingénierie industrielle, plus exactement aux premières étapes du processus d´innovation (Fuzzy Front-End). Aujourd´hui dans un monde globalisé, où la technologie est à la portée de tous, les entreprises cherchent de nouvelles techniques permettant de se distinguer de la concurrence, et offrent de nouveaux et meilleurs produits ou services ; une manière de conserver leurs avantages comparatifs ou d’en acquérir de nouveaux, pour des clients toujours plus exigeants, et dont les besoins changent constamment. Partant de ce constat, l’innovation se définit comme un processus long et continu, au sein duquel s’utilisent différents modèles. Du fait de la complexité du processus, il n’existe pas de modèle unique réunissant tous les besoins des clients. C’est pourquoi le processus d’innovation, implique différents acteurs de l’entreprise et de son environnement. Ces acteurs, dont l’importance varie, sont souvent d’origines diverses et possèdent des compétences variées. Ils ont des besoins différents, et sont soumis à des contraintes de travail différentes (ressources technologiques et financières, réglementations, etc...). Il paraît ainsi essentiel pour l’entreprise de créer un modèle unique, capable d’identifier les besoins de toutes les parties prenantes, avant d’entamer le processus de développement de nouveaux produits. C’est pour l’entreprise une manière de renforcer le processus d’innovation, et de réduire le taux d´échec lors du lancement de nouveaux produits. Ainsi l’objectif de cette étude est de proposer une nouvelle méthode d’analyse des impacts de l’innovation (A.I), afin de permettre aux entreprises d’identifier les besoins dynamiques des acteurs. Celles-ci pourront ainsi mieux définir leurs nouveaux produits et s’adapter plus facilement aux évolutions du marché. Cet outil fait partie d´une méthodologie de gestion des projets innovants, et doit être utilisé avant la définition des caractéristiques fonctionnelles du nouveau produit. Ceci nous ramène aux premières phases du développement, avant la conception du produit, qui comprennent toutes les étapes depuis la définition des besoins et opportunités pour l´innovation, jusqu’à la prise de décision pour le développement du nouveau produit, appelée Fuzzy Front-End. L’apport théorique de notre travail : Il n´existe pas de définition des impacts de l’innovation (I_n), nous avons donc fait un travail bibliographique sur le concept d’impact. Celui-ci a permis d’explorer les différentes définitions d´impact au sein de différentes disciplines (ingénierie, écologie, psychologie, etc.). Nous avons proposé de cette manière, notre propre définition de l’impact adaptée au contexte de l´innovation. Cette recherche bibliographique, nous a aussi permis d’identifier les différents types d´impacts et de justifier l´utilisation de différentes méthodologies. La contribution méthodologique : l’approche proposée pour l´analyse des impacts de l´innovation (A.I) se décompose en deux étapes. La première vise à modéliser l’« écosystème d´innovation », sur la base des relations, de l´importance et des besoins individuels de chacun des acteurs face au nouveau produit. Ceci grâce à une Analyse des Besoins Dynamiques (A.B.D), qui permettra d´obtenir les besoins agrégés permettant de représenter le système complet, sans considérer les possibles perturbations du milieu extérieur ou les impacts de la même innovation. Pour bien identifier et décrire les besoins des acteurs, nous avons basé la méthodologie sur l´observation de leurs activités. Ainsi, nous avons pu identifier les différents besoins des acteurs de l´innovation sur la base de l’analyse RAR (Ressources, Activités, Résultat), ensuite nous avons classifié les besoins grâce au modèle de KANO et ses améliorations réalisées par Tontini. Une méthode originale d’agrégation des besoins de tous les acteurs est proposée.[...] / This research belongs to the industrial engineering field, focusing on the first stages of the innovation process (Fuzzy Front-End). In a globalized world, where the technology is near to everyone, enterprises are looking for new technologies to be different from their competitors, offering new and better products / services as a strategy to keep or acquire new competitive advantages. Moreover, innovation is a large and continuous process, where different management models are used. But, because of the complexity of the process, no general model is suitable for situations and projects. Thus, the innovation process involves different stakeholders from the company and its environment. These individuals come from different origins (field of knowledge), have different needs, abilities, importance and work under different restrictions (technological or financial resources, work rules, etc.). Consequently, it is essential for the enterprise to identify all the needs of the parts involved in the products. And, a model is required in order to identify the stakeholder’s needs before starting design tasks. This model aims at more robustness in the new product development process and at the reduction of the failure rate when launching new products. Thus, the objective of this PhD thesis is to propose a new method to analyze the impact of the innovation, allowing companies to identify the dynamic actors' needs, to improve the definition of their new products and to adapt to the possible changes of the market. This tool is part of an innovative projects management methodology, used before the elaboration of the functional specifications of a new product. This locates the research in the first stages of development called Fuzzy Front-End: before the genesis of the product. Fuzzy front ends integrate among others the opportunity / needs identification for innovation to the development of the new product decision taking. The proposed approach for the innovation impact analysis (A.I) consists of two stages: the first one intends to model an innovation ecosystem, integrating the relations, the importance of each stakeholder and their individual necessities in regard to the new product. Through a Dynamic Needs Analysis (A.B.D) it will be possible to get the global needs, which represent the whole system, without considering the disturbances of the environment or the impact of the same innovation. Thus, the second stage of the model, through the generation of innovation impact scenarios (S.I.I), evaluates the impact of the innovation the new product may face at its market launching. Due to a new product emergence changes emerge: actors’ performance, their interrelations, the importance and their own needs about the product [...]

Patient’s mobility throughout his lifetime leaves a trial of information scattered in laboratories, clinical institutes, primary care units, and other hospitals. Hence, the medical history of a patient is valuable when subjected to special healthcare units or undergoes home-care/personal-care in elderly stage cases. Despite the rhetoric about patient-centred care, few attempts were made to measure and improve in this arena. In this thesis, we will describe and implement a high-level view of a Patient Centric information management, deploying at a preliminary stage, the use of Agent Technologies and Grid Computing. Thus, developing and proposing an infrastructure that allows us to monitor and survey the patient, from the doctor’s point of view, and investigate a Persona, from the patients’ side, that functions and collaborates among different medical information structures. The Persona will attempt to interconnect all the major agents (human and software), and realize a distributed grid info-structure that directly affect the patient, therefore, revealing an adequate and cost-effective solution for most critical information needs. The results comprehended in the literature survey, consolidating Healthcare Information Management with emerged intelligent Multi-Agent System Technologies (MAS) and Grid Computing; intends to provide a solid basis for further advancements and assessments in this field, by bridging and proposing a framework between the home-care sector and the flexible agent architecture throughout the healthcare domain.

Dans la recherche de performance de chaînes logistiques, la modélisation et la simulation de ces chaînes prenant en compte des aspects organisationnels s‘avèrent nécessaire. Dans cette perspective, nous proposons tout d‘abord un nouveau cadre méthodologique de modélisation et simulation orienté agents de chaînes logistiques, prenant en compte explicitement les aspects organisationnels, tant structurels que dynamiques, ainsi que des observables et indicateurs dans la modélisation de ces chaînes. Ce cadre méthodologique est structuré selon deux niveaux d'abstraction principale qui sont : un niveau conceptuel et un niveau opérationnel. Pour chacun de ces niveaux nous avons différents modèles qui sont proposés et décrit en détail. Ensuite, afin de simuler les modèles de simulation de ces chaines logistiques obtenus par ce cadre méthodologique, nous proposons une architecture logicielle multi-paradigmes spécifique. Cette architecture qui supporte l‘intégration de différentes plates-formes de simulation, est basée sur un médiateur, constituant un système multi-agents, et assurant l‘interaction entre les simulateurs. Les agents de ce médiateur sont chargés de collecter les informations permettant de produire les observables, maintenir la structure organisationnelle lorsque des entités organisationnelles (groupes) sont distribués sur différents simulateurs, l‘interopérabilité entre ces simulateurs, et enfin garantir la validité de la simulation d‘un point de vue temporel. Enfin, la mise en œuvre du cadre méthodologique et de l‘architecture logicielle proposés sont illustrées sur un cas industriel réaliste de chaîne logistique. La présentation des phases de conception est détaillée ainsi que la spécification et l‘implémentation du cas industriel au sein de l‘environnement de modélisation et de simulation proposé. / In the search for performance of supply chains, modeling and simulation of these chains, taking into account the organizational aspects are needed. In this perspective, firstly we propose a new methodology for modeling and simulation of supply chains oriented agents, taking into account explicitly the organizational aspects, both structural and dynamic as well as observable indicators in the modeling of these chains. This methodological framework is structured along two main levels of abstraction, conceptual and operational levels. For each level we have models that are proposed and described in details. Then, to simulate the simulation models of supply chains obtained by this methodological framework, we propose a multi-paradigm software architecture specific. This architecture supports the integration of different platforms simulation is based on a mediator, providing a multi-agent system, and ensuring the interaction between the simulators. The agents of this mediator is responsible for collecting required information to produce observables and maintaining the organizational structure while the organizational entities (groups) are distributed over different simulators and interoperability between these simulators, and finally ensuring the validity of the simulation for a temporal point of view. Finally, the implementation of the methodological framework and the proposed software architecture are shown in a realistic industrial case supply chain. The presentation of the design phase is detailed and the specification and implementation of industrial case in environmental modeling and simulation proposed.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:52:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Yonara Magalhaes.pdf: 3488130 bytes, checksum: e183eccb37268ce608c84048d98d467a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-01-31 / Cooperative process of teach-learning at a distance of the society of intelligent agents of environment MATHNET. It is presented architecture of the society of agents of the MATHNET that to provide the process with teach-learning. It is in exchange for distinguished the Tutor Agent and the model of communication, based messages and that it uses the FIPA-ACL Agent Communication Language, between the Tutor Agent and excessively the participant agents of this society. The main characteristics and the paper (responsibilities) of the Tutor Agent describe. Its conceptual model is constructed. Its main Cases Use, interactions with several agents of this architecture and the protocols of communication of the Tutor Agent with the other agents are shaped. The Tutor Agent creates itself using a tool of construction of agents. One implements the Tutor Agent and its Cases Use to inside demonstrate to its relevance and importance of the system and the model of communication. / Processo de ensino-aprendizagem cooperativo à distância da sociedade de agentes inteligentes do ambiente MATHNET. Apresenta-se a arquitetura da sociedade de agentes do MATHNET que provê o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Destaca-se o Agente Tutor e o modelo de comunicação, baseado em troca de mensagens e que utiliza a Linguagem de Comunicação FIPA-ACL, entre o Agente Tutor e os demais agentes participantes dessa sociedade. Descrevem-se as principais características e o papel (responsabilidades) do Agente Tutor. Constrói-se o seu modelo conceitual. Modelam-se os seus principais Casos de Uso, as interações com os demais agentes dessa arquitetura e os protocolos de comunicação do Agente Tutor com os outros agentes. Cria-se o Agente Tutor utilizando para isto uma ferramenta de construção de agentes. Implementa-se o Agente Tutor e seus Casos de Uso para demonstrar sua relevância e importância dentro do sistema e o modelo de comunicação aqui proposto.