Fall 2008
Agent-based Systems
Instructor: Henry Hexmoor
Time: MW 4:00-5:15 pm
Place: Faner 1006
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Fall 2008
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Course Description: Agent-based systems are commonplace in environments characterized by distributed, collaborative, and autonomous units. The techniques and algorithms of agent-based systems and multiagent systems are presented. Real world applications are explored. A group project is an integral part of this course.
Objectives:
Lectures in this calss will not cover internet programming, setting up ecommerce sites, or developing web pages. The term projects could include these activities. The lectures will focus on enabling concepts, models and theories.
Course administration and grading. The course will be run as a regular lectrure class. A single term project will worth 40/100 points. Two midterms and a final exam will count 30% with equal worths. Exams will be either take home or in class. Two netlogo homewords that are peer judged and peer graded will count 10% each. Attendance will count for 10%. Although it is different from netlogo, a good tutorial is available on starlogo that can serve as a good starting point.
Projects: Projects are either applied where agent-based methodology is used for simulation or basic research where an aspect of multiagency is extended beyond the state of the art. We recommend using netlogo for applied research. Example of applied research are: artificial swarm control, modeling dynamics of team sports, modeling a big man society, human robot interaction, modeling crowds, and modeling human decision making.
Examples of basic research are found papers by Nick Jennings, Michael Wooldridge, and Henry Hexmoor.
Schedule:
| Weeks | Dates | Events scheduled | Lectures |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 18, 2008 : 1st day of class | Introduction, and Syllabus, and netlogo | |
| 2 | August 25, 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 3 | September 8, 2008 | Project proposals: One page (context, objectives, inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes) |
Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 4 | September 15, 2008 | netlogo HW 1 proposal | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 5 | September 22 , 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 6 | September 29, 2008 |
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Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 7 | October 6, 2008 | Exam 1 + Project literature |
BDI, MDP, Utility |
| 7 | October 8, 2008 | netlogo HW 1 completed + HW 2 proposal | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 8 | October 13, 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 9 | October 20, 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 10 | October 27, 2008 | Midterm 2 + Project approach and results |
Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 11 | November 3, 2008 | netlogo HW 2 completed | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 12 | November 10, 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 13 | November 17, 2008 | Wooldridge and Vidal's texts | |
| 14 | November 24, 2008 | Final Exam + project conclusion + all |
Wooldridge and Vidal's texts |
| 15 | December 1, 2006 |
Who should attend and prerequisites. We welcome CS graduate students with some background in AI and a strong interest in multiagent systems research. Graduate students in all other closely related sciences who are interested in projects or independent studies are also encouraged to participate. Graduate students may select thesis topics. Senior undergraduate CS students who have taken CS330 with a grade of C or better are also welcome. A group project is an integral part of this course for undergraduate srtudents.
Required Textbooks:
Michael J. Wooldridge, 2000. Introduction to MultiAgent Systems, John
Wiley & Sons; 1st edition, 047149691X (June 12, 2002)
KIMAS 2003 slides
Recommended textbooks:
Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence,
MIT press, SBN: 047149691X.
Sabine Payr, Robert Trappl (Editors), Agent Culture: Human-Agent Interaction
in a Multicultural World, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
ISBN: 0805848088 Gerhard Weiss, 2000
Emergency Procedures: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on BERT's website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Safety's website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency.
Useful Links: To find research papers, citeseer and Multiagent.com