This module gives a basic introduction to the analysis and design of
intelligent agents, software systems which perceive their
environment and act in that environment in pursuit of their goals.
Structure of the Module
The module consists of two parts
- lectures: covering the design of intelligent agents; and
- project work: involving the specification, design and
implementation of one or more simple agents.
Lectures
Lectures are on Tuesdays at 15:00 and Thursdays at 16:00 in room C60 (CS).
In week one only (week commencing 27th of January), the
lectures are on Thursday at 16:00 and Friday at 12:00.
Note that the Thursday and Friday tutorial and lecture slots have been
swapped to minimise clashes with G53NMD. The second lecture in each
week is now on Thursday at 16:00 and the Group Tutorials are now on
Fridays at 12:00.
Project Work
Each student must specify, design and implement one or more simple
agents as described in the
Project Description lecture.
A Java agent package (Package uk.ac.nott.cs.g54dia)
is provided as a starting point for your project work.
Tutorials
The project work is supported by group and individual tutorials.
The group tutorials cover the use of the Java agent package. The
individual tutorials cover the design and implementation of your
project.
Group tutorials are on Fridays at 12:00 in room C60 (CS) and
start in week 3 (week beginning the 10th of February).
Assessment
Assessment is by project work and reports. Full details of the
assessment and submission requirements are available on the G54DIA
moodle page.
Recommended Reading
- Wooldridge (2002), An Introduction to MultiAgent Systems,
Wiley.
- Russell & Norvig (2003), Artificial Intelligence: A
Modern Approach, Prentice Hall (or the 1995 1st edition).
- Ferber (1999), Multi-Agent Systems: An Introduction to
Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Addison-Wesley.
- Arkin (1998), Behavior-Based Robotics, MIT Press.
- Braitenberg (1984), Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic
Psychology, MIT Press.
Note that there is also a version of
the reading
list with links to the University Library catalogue.
Other Resources
Suggested Reading
Note that the following list of suggested reading is provisional,
as it may necessary to change the order in which topics are presented.
- Introduction: Russell & Norvig (2003), chapter 1;
Wooldridge (2002), chapter 2.
- Task Environments: Russell & Norvig (2003), chapter 2.
- Reactive Architectures I: Braitenberg (1984);
see also the Braitenberg Vehicles
simulator and
Craig Reynolds Boids
page.
- Reactive Architectures II: Arkin (1998), chapter 4.
- Deliberative Architectures I: Russell & Norvig
(2003), chapter 11; Wooldridge (2002), chapter 4.
- Deliberative Architectures II: Russell & Norvig
(2003), chapter 12 (or chapter 13 of the 1st edition);
Wooldridge (2002), chapter 4. For the IRMA
architecture, see Martha
Pollack's papers, especially Pollack
et al (1994) "Experimental Investigation of an Agent Commitment
Strategy"; for Tileworld itself see the working paper
by Mike Lees.
- Hybrid Architectures: Arkin (1998), chapter 6;
Wooldridge (2000), chapter 5, section 5.3. Xavier the robot
- Multi-Agent Systems I: Ferber (1999), chapters 1 and 4.
- Multi-Agent Systems II: Wooldridge (2003), chapter 9.
Lecture Slides
- Lecture 1: Introduction
Slides
The Wired video of the winner of the DARPA Urban Challenge
2007 can be found here.
- Lecture 2: Task Environments
Slides
- Lecture 3: Reactive Architectures I
Slides
See also the Braitenberg Vehicles
simulator and
Craig Reynolds Boids page.
- Lecture 4: Reactive Architectures II
Slides
- Lecture 5: Project Description
Slides
- Lecture 6: Getting Started With Your Project
Slides
- Lecture 7: Deliberative Architectures I
Slides.
See also the travelling salesman
applet
and the
Shakey video
(note that the video is about 100MB).
- Lecture 8: Deliberative Architectures II
Slides
- Lectures 9 & 10: Hybrid architectures
Slides
The Xavier videos are available here:
environment,
planning, and
elevator.
- Lecture 11: Multi-agent systems I
Slides
- Lecture 12: Multi-agent systems II
Slides
Group Tutorial Slides
- Tutorial 1: Java Agent Package
Slides
- Tutorial 2: Exploring the Environment
Slides
- Tutorial 3: Exploiting Information
Slides
- Tutorial 4: Mult-agent Solutions
Slides
- Tutorial 5: Final Report
Slides
Copyright © 2014
Brian Logan
This file is maintained by Brian Logan
Last modified: 26-Jan-2014, 17:39