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Abstract:
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Agents , by definition , (1 ) are situated in an environment upon which their actions affect changes and (2 ) have some level of autonomy from the control of humans or other agents . Being situated requires that the agent have a mechanism for sensing the environment as well as actuators for changing the environment . Autonomy implies that each agent has the freedom to make their own decisions . Rational agents are those agents that decide to execute actions that are in their “best interests” according to their desires , using a model of those desires on which they make those decisions . Action selection is complicated due to uncertainty when operating in a dynamic environment or where other actors (agents ) can also influence the environment .
This dissertation presents an action selection framework and algorithms that are (1 ) rational with respect to multiple desires and (2 ) responsive with respect to changing desires . Agents can use the concept of commitments , and the subsequent communication of those commitments , to coordinate their actions and reduce their uncertainty . Coordination is layered on top of this framework by describing and analyzing how commitments affect the agents’ desires in their action selection models . This research uses the domain of UAV surveillance to experimentally explore the balance between under -commitment and over -commitment . Where previous approaches concentrate on the semantics of commitment , this research concentrates on the pragmatics of commitment , describing how to use utility calculations to enable an agent to decide when making a commitment is in its best interests . |