Arrow Research search

Author name cluster

Rafael H. Bordini

Possible papers associated with this exact author name in Arrow. This page groups case-insensitive exact name matches and is not a full identity disambiguation profile.

23 papers
2 author rows

Possible papers

23

AAMAS Conference 2023 Conference Paper

MAIDS - A Framework for the Development of Multi-Agent Intentional Dialogue Systems

  • Débora C. Engelmann
  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Renata Vieira
  • Jomi Fred Hübner
  • Viviana Mascardi
  • Rafael H. Bordini

This paper introduces a framework for programming highly sophisticated multi-agent dialogue systems. The framework is based on a multi-part agent belief base consisting of three components: (i) the main component is an extension of an agent-oriented programming belief base for representing defeasible knowledge and, in particular, argumentation schemes; (ii) an ontology component where existing OWL ontologies can be instantiated; and (iii) a theory of mind component where agents keep track of mental attitudes they ascribe to other agents. The paper formalises a structured argumentationbased dialogue game where agents can “digress” from the main dialogue into subdialogues to discuss ontological or theory of mind issues. We provide an example of a dialogue with an ontological digression involving humans and agents, including a chatbot that we developed to support bed allocation in a hospital. The example is used to show that our framework supports all features of recent desiderata for future dialogue systems. We also report an initial evaluation of the chatbot carried out by domain experts.

PDF

AAMAS Conference 2022 Conference Paper

Towards an Enthymeme-Based Communication Framework

  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Peter McBurney
  • Rafael H. Bordini

In this work, we give an operational semantics for speech acts that BDI agents can use to communicate enthymemes. The approach uses argumentation schemes as common organisational knowledge to guide the construction of enthymemes by the proponents of arguments. Such schemes are also used to guide the reconstruction of the intended argument by the recipients of such enthymemes.

PDF

KR Conference 2022 Conference Paper

Towards an Enthymeme-Based Communication Framework in Multi-Agent Systems

  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Peter McBurney
  • Rafael H. Bordini

Communication is one of the most important aspects of multi-agent systems. Among the different communication techniques applied to multi-agent systems, argumentation-based approaches have received special interest from the community, because allowing agents to exchange arguments provides a rich form of communication. In contrast to the benefits that argumentation-based techniques provide to multi-agent communication, extra weight on the communication infrastructure results from the additional information exchanged by agents, which could restrict the practical use of such techniques. In this work, we propose an argumentation framework whereby agents are able to exchange shorter messages when engaging in dialogues by omitting information that is common knowledge (e. g. , information about a shared multi-agent organisation). In particular, we focus on using enthymemes, shared argumentation schemes (i. e. , reasoning patterns from which arguments are instantiated), and common organisational knowledge to build an enthymeme-based communication framework. We show that our approach addresses some of Grice's maxims, in particular that agents can be brief in communication, without any loss in the content of the intended arguments.

PDF Details DOI

AAMAS Conference 2021 Conference Paper

Agent Programming in the Cognitive Era

  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni
  • Koen Hindriks
  • Brian Logan
  • Alessandro Ricci

It is claimed that, in the nascent ‘Cognitive Era’, intelligent systems will be trained using machine learning techniques rather than programmed by software developers [10]. A contrary point of view argues that machine learning has limitations, and, taken in isolation, cannot form the basis of autonomous systems capable of intelligent behaviour in complex environments [14]. In this paper, we argue that the unique strengths of Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) agent programming languages provide an ideal framework for integrating the wide range of AI capabilities necessary for progress towards the next-generation of intelligent systems.

PDF

AAMAS Conference 2021 Conference Paper

Feasible Coalition Sequences

  • Tabajara Krausburg
  • Jürgen Dix
  • Rafael H. Bordini

We introduce the idea of a finite sequence of coalition formation games over a set of agents, and we call it Sequential Characteristic- Function Game (SCFG). We define the solution of such a game as a corresponding sequence of coalition structures that must be related by a given feasibility relation, so no coalition structure can be evaluated in isolation. A sequence satisfying this condition is called Feasible Coalition-Structure Sequence (FCSS). Such games can be a useful abstraction for modelling various scenarios, in particular those for real-world disaster management that we consider in this paper. We give an algorithm for computing an FCSS and evaluate it experimentally. Our results show that an SCFG can represent various classical variations of characteristic-function games, and our algorithm solves instances with a reasonable number of agents.

PDF

JAAMAS Journal 2020 Journal Article

Agent programming in the cognitive era

  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni
  • Alessandro Ricci

Abstract It is claimed that, in the nascent ‘Cognitive Era’, intelligent systems will be trained using machine learning techniques rather than programmed by software developers. A contrary point of view argues that machine learning has limitations, and, taken in isolation, cannot form the basis of autonomous systems capable of intelligent behaviour in complex environments. In this paper, we explore the contributions that agent-oriented programming can make to the development of future intelligent systems. We briefly review the state of the art in agent programming, focussing particularly on BDI-based agent programming languages, and discuss previous work on integrating AI techniques (including machine learning) in agent-oriented programming. We argue that the unique strengths of BDI agent languages provide an ideal framework for integrating the wide range of AI capabilities necessary for progress towards the next-generation of intelligent systems. We identify a range of possible approaches to integrating AI into a BDI agent architecture. Some of these approaches, e. g. , ‘AI as a service’, exploit immediate synergies between rapidly maturing AI techniques and agent programming, while others, e. g. , ‘AI embedded into agents’ raise more fundamental research questions, and we sketch a programme of research directed towards identifying the most appropriate ways of integrating AI capabilities into agent programs.

Details DOI

EUMAS Conference 2020 Conference Paper

Disaster Response Simulation as a Testbed for Multi-Agent Systems

  • Tabajara Krausburg
  • Vinicius Chrisosthemos
  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Jürgen Dix

Abstract We introduce a novel two-dimensional simulator for disaster response on maps of real cities. Our simulator deals with logistics and coordination problems and allows to plug-in almost any approach developed for simulated environments. In addition, it (1) offers functionalities for further developing and benchmarking, and (2) provides metrics that help the analysis of the performance of a team of agents during the disaster. Our simulator is based on software made available by the multi-agent programming contest, which over the years has provided challenging problems to be solved by intelligent agents. We evaluate the performance of our simulator in terms of processing time and memory usage, message exchange, and response time. We apply this analysis to two different approaches for dealing with the mining dam disaster that occurred in Brazil in 2019. Our results show that our simulator is robust and can work with a reasonable number of agents.

Details DOI

TCS Journal 2020 Journal Article

Reasoning in BDI agents using Toulmin's argumentation model

  • Vágner de Oliveira Gabriel
  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Diana Francisca Adamatti
  • Cleo Zanella Billa

The theory of argumentation pervades several fields of knowledge, and it has gained significant space in multiagent systems because it provides a way for modeling reasoning over conflicting information in intelligent agents. This work proposes the development of an argumentation-based inference mechanism for BDI agents based on Toulmin's model of argumentation. The philosopher Stephen Toulmin claimed that arguments typically consist of six parts: data, warrant, claim, backing, qualifier, and rebuttal. This argumentation structure allows arguments to be described through separated components, making it easier to define and to evaluate the inference process. By presenting and discussing some case studies, this paper shows how this mechanism supports the inference of new beliefs based on available evidence within BDI agents programmed in an agent-oriented programming language.

Details DOI

AAMAS Conference 2019 Conference Paper

Decentralised Planning for Multi-Agent Programming Platforms

  • Rafael C. Cardoso
  • Rafael H. Bordini

Extensive research has been done on planning for single-agent problems, but multi-agent planning has not as yet been thoroughly explored in agent development platforms. These platforms typically provide various mechanisms for runtime coordination, which are often useful in online planning. In this context decentralised multiagent planning can be efficient as well as effective, especially in loosely-coupled domains, whilst also ensuring important properties in agent systems such as privacy and autonomy. In this paper, we describe the DOMAP planning framework and its integration with a multi-agent programming platform to support the achievement of social goals. Our planning framework has separate phases for goal allocation and individual HTN planning, whilst relying on available runtime coordination. Experiments on three different multi-agent systems implemented in JaCaMo show that DOMAP outperforms four other state-of-the-art multi-agent planners with regards to both planning and execution time.

PDF

KER Journal 2019 Journal Article

Dimensions in programming multi-agent systems

  • Olivier Boissier
  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Jomi F. Hübner
  • Alessandro Ricci

Abstract Research on Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) has led to the development of several models, languages, and technologies for programming not only agents, but also their interaction, the application environment where they are situated, as well as the organization in which they participate. Research on those topics moved from agent-oriented programming towards multi-agent-oriented programming (MAOP). A MAS program is then designed and developed using a structured set of concepts and associated first-class design and programming abstractions that go beyond the concepts normally associated with agents. They include those related to environment, interaction, and organization. JaCaMo is a platform for MAOP built on top of three seamlessly integrated dimensions (i.e. structured sets of concepts and associated execution platforms): for programming belief desire intention (BDI) agents, their artefact-based environments, and their normative organizations. The key purpose of our work on JaCaMo is to support programmers in exploring the synergy between these dimensions, providing a comprehensive programming model, as well as a corresponding platform for developing and running MAS. This paper provides a practical overview of MAOP using JaCaMo. We show how emphasizing one particular dimension leads to different solutions to the same problem, and discuss the issues of each of those solutions.

Details DOI

AAMAS Conference 2019 Conference Paper

Engineering Scalable Distributed Environments and Organizations for MAS

  • Alessandro Ricci
  • Andrei Ciortea
  • Simon Mayer
  • Olivier Boissier
  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Jomi Fred Hubner

In MAS programming and engineering, the environment and the organisation can be exploited as first-class design and programming abstractions besides the agent one. A main example of a platform implementing this view is JaCaMo, which allows the programming of a MAS in terms of an organisation of cognitive agents sharing a common artifact-based environment. However, MAS models and platforms in general do not provide a satisfactory approach for MAS developers to uniformly deal with distribution at multiple dimensions — agent, environment, and organisation. Typically, environments are either centralised in a single node, or composed by parts that run on different nodes but with a poor support at the programming and execution levels to deal with that. In this paper, we tackle this problem by proposing a model for engineering world-wide distributed environments and organisations for MAS. The approach integrates the A&A (Agents and Artifacts) conceptual model with a web/resource-oriented view of distributed systems as proposed by the REST architectural style. To evaluate the approach, an extension of the JaCaMo open-source platform has been developed implementing the proposed model.

PDF

AAMAS Conference 2017 Conference Paper

A Modular Framework for Decentralised Multi-Agent Planning

  • Rafael C. Cardoso
  • Rafael H. Bordini

Multi-agent systems often require runtime planning, which remains an open problem due to the existing gap between planning and execution in practice. Extensive research has been carried out in centralised planning for single-agent systems, but so far decentralised multi-agent planning has not been fully explored. In this paper, we extend existing multiagent platforms to enable decentralised planning at runtime. In particular, we put forward a planning and execution framework called Decentralised Online Multi-Agent Planning (DOMAP). Experiments with a planning domain we developed on flooding disaster scenarios show that DOMAP outperforms 4 other state-of-the-art multi-agent planners, particularly in the most difficult problems.

PDF

AAMAS Conference 2016 Conference Paper

Argumentation-Based Reasoning Using Preferences over Sources of Information (Extended Abstract)

  • Victor S. Melo
  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Rafael H. Bordini

Argumentation-based reasoning plays an important role in agent reasoning and communication. In this work, we extend an argumentation-based reasoning mechanism to take into account preferences over arguments supporting contrary conclusions. Such preferences come from elements that are present or can be more easily obtained in the context of practical multi-agent programming platforms, such as multiple sources from which the information (used to construct the arguments) was acquired, as well as varying degrees of trust on them. Further, we introduce different agent profiles by varying the way certain operators are applied over the various information sources. Unlike previous approaches, our approach accounts for multiple sources for a single piece of information and is based on an argumentation-based reasoning mechanism implemented on a multi-agent platform.

PDF

ECAI Conference 2016 Conference Paper

Multi-Level Semantics with Vertical Integrity Constraints

  • Alison R. Panisson
  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Antônio Carlos da Rocha Costa

Operational semantics is a fundamental approach to the formalisation of programming languages and almost a standard when it comes to agent-oriented programming languages. It helps ensure the correctness of interpreters, facilitates their implementation, and supports proofs of important properties. Multi-agent oriented systems are a particular kind of distributed systems and through the semantics of agent languages, operational semantics ended up playing an important role towards ensuring their desired behaviour, even though the operational semantics becomes more involved than originally intended. This work presents a new style for the operational semantics of systems with multiple levels of abstractions (such as multi-agent systems), by providing multi-level transitions (i. e. , multiple hierarchical transition systems) with vertical (i. e. , inter-level) integrity constraints to ensure consistency of interrelated transitions.

Details

AAMAS Conference 2013 Conference Paper

Benchmarking Communication in Actor- and Agent-Based Languages

  • Rafael C. Cardoso
  • Jomi F. Hübner
  • Rafael H. Bordini

This paper presents some results of communication benchmarks used to compare the performance of one agent-oriented and two actor-oriented programming languages. The experiments include an existing benchmark for traditional programming languages as well as two new variants of that benchmark. We selected Erlang and Scala to represent actor languages, and Jason to represent agent languages. We discuss here a summary of the result for those three experimental scenarios for each of the three languages and the respective result analysis in regards to time, memory, and core usage.

PDF

ECAI Conference 2010 Conference Paper

Semantics for the Jason Variant of AgentSpeak (Plan Failure and some Internal Actions)

  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Jomi Fred Hübner

Jason is a platform for agent-based software development that is characterised both by being based on a programming language with formal semantics as well as having many language and platforms features that are very useful for practical programming, but not fully formalised. In this paper, we make significant progress in the direction of formalising the aspects of the variant of AgentSpeak that is interpreted by Jason that were not included in previous work on giving formal semantics to AgentSpeak. In particular, we give semantics to the plan failure handling mechanism which is unique to Jason, and also for some of the predefined internal actions that can alter an agent's mental state. Such internal actions are essential for some aspects of BDI-based programming, such as checking or dropping current goals or intentions, and therefore need to be formally defined within the operational semantics of the language.

Details

JAAMAS Journal 2006 Journal Article

Verifying Multi-agent Programs by Model Checking

  • Rafael H. Bordini
  • Michael Fisher
  • Michael Wooldridge

Abstract This paper gives an overview of our recent work on an approach to verifying multi-agent programs. We automatically translate multi-agent systems programmed in the logic-based agent-oriented programming language AgentSpeak into either Promela or Java, and then use the associated Spin and JPF model checkers to verify the resulting systems. We also describe the simplified BDI logical language that is used to write the properties we want the systems to satisfy. The approach is illustrated by means of a simple case study.

Details DOI
v2026.09.13