Translation of statechart agents into a BDI framework for MAS engineering. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fortino, Giancarlo; Rango, Francesco; Russo, Wilma; Santoro, Corrado
• Is Part Of: Engineering applications of artificial intelligence. Volume 41(2015:May)
• Page Start: 287
• Page End: 297
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Software agents -- BDI agents -- Statechart agents -- ELDA Model PROFETA -- AgentSpeak(L); Engineering -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Artificial intelligence -- Periodicals; Expert systems (Computer science) -- Periodicals; Ingénierie -- Informatique -- Périodiques; Intelligence artificielle -- Périodiques; Systèmes experts (Informatique) -- Périodiques; Artificial intelligence; Engineering -- Data processing; Expert systems (Computer science); Periodicals; 620.00285
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engappai.2015.01.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0952-1976

Abstract

Abstract: In the agent-oriented computing area, different programming paradigms have been to date proposed to design and implement multi-agent systems (MAS). Among them, the Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) and Statecharts-based models have emerged as they effectively support the definition of rational and protocol-oriented agent behaviors, respectively. In this paper, we investigate the translation between such models by using two available agent modeling languages: PROFETA, which is based on the BDI agent model, and the agent-oriented Distilled StateCharts (DSC) formalism, which allows modeling agent behaviors based on Statecharts-like state machines. In particular, we propose a mapping from DSC to PROFETA that can enable visual programming of PROFETA programs to facilitate the development of PROFETA-based autonomous systems. A case-study is also developed to exemplify the proposed engineering approach.