-- Les
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CALL FOR PARTICIPATION First International Conference on Multiagent Systems - ICMAS '95
June 12 - 14, 1995 San Francisco, California
The First International Conference on Multiagent Systems will be held June 12-14 of 1995 in San Francisco. Organized as a joint effort of the North American Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) community, the Japanese Multi-Agent and Cooperative Computing (MACC) community, and the European Modeling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW) community with support from AAAI, IJCAI and Keihanna Interaction Plaza Inc. It is also sanctioned by ECCAI. ICMAS-95 will be a three-day conference combining a strong technical program of highly reviewed papers (53 papers with an acceptance rate of 33%) together with invited talks (7) and panels. There will also be tutorials presented on June 11, the day before the official start of the conference.
Multiagent Systems are computational systems in which several semiautonomous agents interact or work together to perform some set of tasks or satisfying some set of goals. These systems may involve computational agents that are homogeneous or heterogeneous, they may involve activity on the part of agents having common goals or goals that are distinct, and they may involve participation on the part of humans and intelligent computational agents. Research and practice on these systems generally focuses on problem solving, communication, and coordination aspects, as distinct from low-level parallelization or synchronization issues that are more the focus of distributed computing.
The design, implementation, and assessment of multiagent systems raises many specific issues. These include how to develop coordination strategies that enable groups of agents to solve problems effectively, negotiation mechanisms that serve to bring a collection of agents to an acceptable state, conflict detection and resolution strategies, protocols by which agents may communicate and reason about interagent communications, and mechanisms whereby agents can maintain autonomy while still contributing to overall system effectiveness. Topics of interests that will be the focus of conference papers include:
Agent architectures Artificial life (from a multiagent perspective) Believable Agents Cooperation, coordination, and conflict Communication issues Conceptual and theoretical foundations of multiagent systems Development and engineering methodologies Distributed artificial intelligence Distributed consensus and algorithms for multiagent interaction Distributed search Evaluation of multiagent systems Integrated testbeds and development environments Intelligent agents in enterprise integration systems and similar types of applications Learning and adaptation in multiagent systems Multiagent cooperative reasoning from distributed heterogeneous databases Multiagent planning and planning for multiagent worlds Negotiation strategies - in both competitive and cooperative situations Organization, organizational knowledge, and organization self-design Practical applications of multiagent systems (enterprises, robotics, sensing, manufacturing, IVHS etc.) Resource allocation in multiagent systems Social structures and their significance in multiagent systems User interface issues for multiagent systems
Up-to-date Information
A Mosaic page (http://ICMAS.cs.umass.edu/ICMAS) can be accessed for the most up-to-date information on the conference including as it becomes available information on hotel and travel arrangements, tutorials and the technical program.
Hotel Arrangements
The conference will be held at San Francisco Hilton and Towers (415-771-1400). There are a block of rooms set aside for conference participants at a special convention rate only until May 11,1995 (or while they last). Reservations received after this date will be accepted based on availability. Please indicate when you are making room arrangements that you will be attending the International Conference on Multiagent Systems in order to get the convention rate. (Note that the reduced conference rate will also apply to the three days preceding and the three days following the conference days, if when you book there are rooms available.)
General Chair: Victor R. Lesser Computer and Information Science Department University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 (413) 545-1322 icmas-95@cs.umass.edu
Program Co-Chairs:
North America: Susan E. Conry Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Clarkson University Box 5720 Potsdam, NY 13676-5720 (315) 268-6510 conry@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
Europe: Yves Demazeau Laboratoire LIFIA/IMAG 46 Avenue Felix Viallet F-38031 Grenoble cx FRANCE +33 76574654 Yves.Demazeau@imag.fr
Pacific Rim: Mario Tokoro Keio University / Sony CSL Department of Computer Science 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku Yokohama 223 JAPAN +81-45-560-1153 mario@mt.cs.keio.ac.jp
Local Arrangements: Evangelos Simoudis IBM Almaden (408) 927-2215 simoudis@almaden.ibm.com
Advisory Committee: John Campbell (England) Christiano Castelfranchi (Italy) Susan E. Conry (USA) Yves Demazeau (France) Edmund Durfee (USA) Jacques Ferber (France) Les Gasser (USA) Michael Georgeff (Australia) Carl Hewitt (USA) Michael N. Huhns (USA) Toru Ishida (Japan) Victor Lesser (USA) Jean-Pierre Muller (Switzerland) Jeffrey Rosenschein (Israel) Evangelos Simoudis (USA) Katia Sycara (USA) Mario Tokoro (Japan)
Program Committee: John Campbell (England) Christiano Castelfranchi (Italy) Helder Coelho (Portugal) Phil Cohen (USA) Edmund Durfee (USA) Jacques Ferber (France) Mark Fox (Canada) Les Gasser (USA) Michael Georgeff (Australia) Carl Hewitt (USA) Bernardo Huberman (USA) Michael Huhns (USA) Toru Ishida (Japan) Nick Jennings (England) Sarit Kraus (Israel) Christian Lemaitre (Mexico) Frank von Martial (Germany) Jean Pierre Muller (Switzerland) Hideyuki Nakashima (Japan) Van Parunak (USA) Jeffrey Rosenschein (Israel) Evangelos Simoudis (USA) Donald Steiner (Germany) Luc Steels (Belgium) Toshiharu Sugawara (Japan) Katia Sycara (USA)
=====================REGISTRATION FORM====================
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (ICMAS-95) REGISTRATION FORM
Name: Net Address: Univ/Company: Address: City: State/Province: Zip Code: Country: Daytime Phone: Daytime Fax:
------------------------------------------------------------- Mark applicable fees: Early Registration Rate Late Registration Rate TOTAL Postmarked by April 20 Postmarked by May 19 Regular / Student Regular / Student Technical Program* $300 / $125 $350 / $150 $ June 12-15, 1995
Tutorials (with Technical Program Registration) Half-day $50 / $25 $75 / $35 $ Full-day $100 / $25 $125 / $35 $
Tutorials (without Technical Program Registration) Half-day $100 / $25 $125 / $35 $ Full-day $150 / $25 $175 / $35 $
IF REGISTERING FOR TUTORIALS, MAKE SELECTION(S) HERE: Morning Sessions (limit: 1) Afternoon Sessions (limit: 1) __ A. Intro. to MAS, Part 1 __ D. Intro. to MAS, Part 2 __ B. Intelligent Agents __ E. Formal Methods in MAS __ C. Business Process Reengineering __ F. MAS Tools & Techniques & Coordination Support
Tutorial Registration includes Notes; Notes alone will be available for purchase on site. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reception*, Monday June 12 Number of guests, at $15 each ____ $
Dinner*, Tuesday, June 13 Number of guests, at $50 each ____ $
*Your technical program registration fee includes: 1 copy of proceedings, 1 ticket to reception, and 1 ticket to dinner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TOTAL DUE $
Note: Registrations received after May 19 are subject to on-site rates. The refund request deadline is May 26, 1995. A $75 processing fee will be assessed for all refunds.
Please Make Check Payable to ICMAS-95 in U.S. Dollars and send this form and your check to: ICMAS-95 V. Lesser, General Chair Computer Science Dept., LGRC, Box 34610 University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003-4610 USA
OR you may pay by credit card by completing the information below: (PLEASE TYPE):
CIRCLE CARD TYPE: MC VISA AmEx Disc.
NAME (as it appears on credit card)______________________________ CARD NUMBER:____________________________ EXP. DATE ______
SIGNATURE_____________________________ AMOUNT $_______U.S.D.
FAX the completed registration form to:
ICMAS-95 c/o M. Roberts 1(413) 545-1249 ===================end of registration form===============
ABSTRACTS OF TUTORIAL SESSIONS
A. INTRODUCTION TO MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (Part 1) D. INTRODUCTION TO MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (Part 2)
Coordinator: Les Gasser, USC (USA)
This tutorial will be a one-day long, 7-hour introductory Multiagent Systems tutorial, in modules. These modules will cover, at an introductory level, motivations and applications for multiagent systems, basic multiagent systems problems such as task allocation, coordination, interaction, agent and process models, disparity resolution, implementation approaches, and engineering methodologies. Most of the fundamental MAS technologies and models will be surveyed (e.g., distributed search/CDPS, negotiation, multiagent/distributed planning, coordination, reasoning about other agents, and so on). Each module will consist of a presentation of about 30-45 minutes by people well-known and experienced in each area. The point of this introductory tutorial is to get people unfamiliar with the range and depth of MAS topics up to speed on the basic issues and background.
B. INTELLIGENT AGENTS
Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages
Nicholas R. Jennings, Queen Mary & Westfield College (UK), Michael Wooldridge, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)
The concept of an agent is now important in both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mainstream computer science. In this tutorial, we introduce the key issues associated with the design and construction of intelligent agents.
This tutorial addresses one of the fastest growing topics within the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence and multiagent systems: the design and implementation of intelligent agents. Thus, the tutorial will combine material from the traditional multiagent systems field with fields which are just starting to use the concept of agents (e.g., interface agents, information agents, believable agents). The tutorial will also serve as an important form of synthesis - showing the links and inter dependencies between three of the most important aspects of multiagent systems research.
We divide these issues into three areas. Agent theory is concerned with the question of what an agent is, and the use of mathematical formalisms for representing and reasoning about the properties of agents. Agent architectures can be thought of as software engineering models of agents; researchers in this area are primarily concerned with the problem of designing software or hardware systems that will satisfy the properties specified by the agent theorists. Finally, agent languages are software systems for programming and experimenting with agents; these languages may embody principles proposed by theorists. We provide an overview of each of these areas, focusing particularly on the links between them.
C. BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING & COORDINATION SUPPORT
Business Process (Re-)Engineering: Methodologies and Multiagent Technologies
Mark Klein, Penn State University (USA), Frank von Martial, DeTeMobile (Germany)
This tutorial provides a thorough treatment of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and the collaborative computing technology that can be used to support it, from the perspective of multiagents systems research and technologies. We define BPR quite broadly to include the entire process management life cycle (from process definition to simulation to enactment to metrics to refinement to reuse and redesign). Topics to be covered include: what BPR is why it is important what BPR methodologies work well what process management technology is and how it can be used to support BPR weaknesses of current process management technology from the perspective of BPR (e.g. lack of organizational models, semistructured processes, rationale capture, integration between different classes of process management tools, process reuse & redesign support and run-time exception handling) current research directions for addressing these gaps (e.g. work on rationale capture, process retrieval and exception handling technology).
D. (See A)
E. FORMAL METHODS IN MAS
Theoretical Foundations for Multiagent Systems
Gilad Zlotkin, MIT (USA), Makoto Yokoo, NTT (JAPAN), Michael Wellman, Michigan (USA)
This tutorial provides an introduction to the theoretical foundations underlying common technical approaches to the design of multiagent systems (MASs). The tutorial consists of three parts, each devoted to an important multiagent paradigm.
Search Foundations (Yokoo) In this section, we first describe basic search formalizations (constraint satisfaction and path-planning) and associated algorithms. Then, we show how these formalizations and algorithms can be extended for representing/solving various MAS problems, such as achieving coherence among agents, adaptation/learning in unknown environments, etc. The presentation will include video animations of some of the algorithms.
Game-Theoretic Models of Interaction (Zlotkin) In this section we present game-theoretic tools that are useful for the design of MASs where agents are individually motivated. In such systems, we coordinate agents' activities by providing incentives for desired behaviors. We start with some of the basic concepts, such as: individual rationality and equilibrium, group rationality, and mechanism design. Then, we explore some group decision theories and their related coordination mechanisms: bargaining theory and negotiation mechanisms, voting theory and consensus mechanisms, cooperative games, and coalition formation mechanisms.
Computational Markets (Wellman) In this section we present the basic economics one needs to know in order to design a computational market system. Topics include the basic theories of consumer and producer agents, the role of prices, concepts of competitive behavior, market equilibria, auction mechanisms, and more. By way of examples, we consider how to cast real-world resource allocation and planning problems in market terms.
F. MAS TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
Multiagent System Tools and Research Methods
Coordinator TBA
This tutorial will cover the variety of tools and research methods available for building and experimenting with practical and experimental multiagent systems, for both academic research and for real-world applications. Languages, frameworks, platforms, technologies and tools such as KQML, Agent-0, NET-GBB, Telescript, Articulator, VDT, SPARKLE, KOD, EZ-SIM, ACTION, etc. will be covered.
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INVITED SPEAKER TALKS -- ICMAS '95
"Blissful Ignorance: Knowing Just Enough to Coordinate Well" Edmund H. Durfee, EECS Department, University of Michigan
"Computational Organization Research" Les Gasser, IMPACT Lab School of Engineering, USC
"Parallel, Distributed and Multi-Agent Production Systems: A Research Foundation for Distributed Artificial Intelligence" Toru Ishida, Department of Computer Science, Kyoto University
"Developing Industrial Multi-Agent Systems" N. R. Jennings, Distributed AI Unit, Dept of Electronic Engineering, Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London
"Multiagent Planning as a Social Process: Voting, Privacy, and Manipulation" Jeffrey S. Rosenschein, Institute of Computer Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
"What We Talk About When We Talk About Agents" Yoav Shoham, Computer Science Dept., Stanford University
"Coordination of Multiple Intelligent Agents in the Infosphere" Katia Sycara, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
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LIST OF PAPERS TO BE PRESENTED IN THE TECHNICAL PROGRAM:
FORMAL APPROACHES (12) - - - - - - - - - - - Game Theoretic Approaches (6) Formal agent Frameworks (2) Reasoning about Knowledge and Belief (4)
AGENT SOCIETIES (8) - - - - - - - - - - Multi-agent, Collaborative Interfaces (3) Emergent Behaviors (2) Social Commitment (3)
BUILDING AGENTS: TOOLS FOR SPECIFICATION AND COORDINATION (10) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Testbeds and Specification Tools (4) Coordination Tools (3) KQML (3)
APPLICATIONS (8) - - - - - - - - General Applications (4) Robotics (4)
DISTRIBUTED ALGORITHMS (10) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Multi-Agent Planning (4) Distributed Search (4) Distributed Constraint Satisfaction (4)
MARKET-BASED APPROACHES (5) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Market-based Coordination (3) Resource Contention (2)
=========================================================== - - - - - - - - - - - FORMAL APPROACHES (12) - - - - - - - - - - -
GAME THEORETIC APPROACHES (6)
Time and the prisoner's dilemma Yishay Mor and Jeffrey S. Rosenschein
Introducing Blind Hunger Dilemma C. Numaoka
Coordination without Communication: Experimental Validation of Focal Point Techniques M. Fenster, S. Kraus, J. S. Rosenchein
A Game-Theoretic Account of Cooperation in Communication K. Hasida, K. Nagao, and T. Miyata
A Rigorous, Operational Formalization of Recursive Modeling Piotr J. Gmytrasiewicz and Edmund H. Durfee
Recursive Agent Modeling using Limited Rationality Jose M. Vidal and Edmund H. Durfee
FORMAL AGENT FRAMEWORKS (2)
A Formal Framework for Agency and Autonomy Michael Luck and Mark d'Inverno
BDI Agents: from theory to practice A. Rao and M. Georgeff
REASONING ABOUT KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF (4)
Generalised Proof-theoretic Multi-agent Autoepistemic Reasoning Yongyuth Aramkulchai and Y.J.Jiang
Multiagent Reasoning with Belief Contexts II: Elaboration Tolerance A. Cimatti, L. Serafini
Towards a Pragmatic Theory of Interactions A. Haddadi
Reasoning about belief based on common knowledge of observability of actions Hideki Isozaki
- - - - - - - - - - AGENT SOCIETIES (8) - - - - - - - - - -
MULTIAGENT, COLLABORATIVE INTERFACES (3)
Multiagent collaboration in directed improvisation B. Hayes-Roth and L. Brownston
Communication for conflict resolution in multi-agent collaborative planning Jennifer Chu-Carroll, Sandra Carberry
PARAgente: Exploring the Issues in Agent-Based User Interfaces J. A. Sanchez, F.S. Azevedo, & J.J. Leggett
EMERGENT BEHAVIORS (2)
The Emergence of Cooperation in a Society of Autonomous Agents Akira Ito and Hiroyuki Yano
Understanding the Emergence of Conventions in Multi-Agent Systems A. Walker, M.Wooldridge
SOCIAL COMMITMENT (3)
Commitments: from individual intentions to groups and organizations Cristiano Castelfranchi
Deciding when to commit to action during observation-based coordination Marcus J. Huber and Edmund H. Durfee
Exploiting Social Reasoning to Deal with Agency Level Inconsistency J. Sichman and Y. Demazeau
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BUILDING AGENTS: TOOLS FOR SPECIFICATION AND COORDINATION (10) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TESTBEDS AND SPECIFICATION TOOLS (4)
Formal Specification of Multi-Agent Systems: a Real-World Case F. Brazier, B. Dunin-Keplicz, N. Jennings, J. Treur
How Agents Do It In Stream Logic Programming Matthew M Huntbach, Nick R Jennings and Graem A Ringwood
The DRESUN Testbed for Research in FA/C Distributed Situation Assessment: Extensions to the Model of External Evidence N. Carver and V. Lesser
Understanding Cooperation: an Agent's Perspective Andreas Lux, Donald Steiner
COORDINATION TOOLS (3)
Designing a Family of Coordination Algorithms Keith Decker and Victor Lesser
A Tool For Coordinating Autonomous Agents With Conflicting Goals Love Ekenberg, Magnus Boman, Mats Danielson
A Cooperation Language Michael Kolb
KQML (3)
Communicative Actions for Artificial Agents Philip R. Cohen and Hector J. Levesque
COOL: A Language for Describing Coordination in Multiagent Systems Mihai Barbuceanu and Mark S. Fox
On using KQML for Matchmaking Daniel Kuokka and Larry Harada
- - - - - - - - APPLICATIONS (8) - - - - - - - -
GENERAL APPLICATIONS (4)
A Multi-Agent Intelligent Design System Integrating Manufacturing and Shop-Floor Control Sivaram Balasubramanian and Douglas H. Norrie
A Model For Cooperative Transportation Scheduling K. Fischer, J.P.Mueller, M. Pischel
A Multiagent System for Controlling Building Environments B. A. Huberman and S. H. Clearwater
DIDE: A Multi-Agent Environment for Engineering Design Weiming Shen, Jean-Paul Barthes
ROBOTICS (4)
Motor Schema-based Formation Control for Multiagent Robot Teams Tucker Balch and Ronald C. Arkin
Unsupervised Multi-Agent Exploration Of Structured Environments Dario Maio, Stefano Rizzi
Recursive Agent and Agent-Group Tracking in a Real-time Dynamic Environment Milind Tambe
Hierarchical and Lateral Coordination in MAS : An analysis of Message Traffic Flow Alois Knoll, J. Meinkoehn
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISTRIBUTED ALGORITHMS (10) - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MULTI-AGENT PLANNING (4)
A Tractable Heuristic That Maximizes Global Utility Through Local Plan Combination Eithan Ephrati, Martha Pollack, and Jeffrey S. Rosenschein
Synchronizing Multiagent Plans using Temporal Logic Specifications Froduald Kabanza
A Metalevel Coordination Strategy for Reactive Cooperative Planning E. Osawa
Reusing past plans in distributed planning Toshiharu Sugawara
DISTRIBUTED SEARCH (4)
Knowledge-Based Distributed Search Using Teamwork Joerg Denzinger
Two is not Always Better than One: Organizational Performance Issues in Real-Time Bidirectional Search Toru Ishida
Unsupervised Surrogate Agents and Search Bias Change in Flexible Distributed Scheduling Sandip Sen and Edmund H. Durfee
Distributed Scheduling of Multiagent Communication Y. Xiang
DISTRIBUTED CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION (4)
Forming Coalitions for Breaking Deadlocks Katsutoshi Hirayama and Jun'ichi Toyoda
Exploiting Problem Structure for Distributed Constaint Optimization JyiShane Liu and Katia Sycara
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - MARKET-BASED APPROACHES (5) - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MARKET-BASED COORDINATION (3)
A Simple Computational Market for Network Information Services T. Mullen and P. Wellman
Issues in Automated Negotiation and Electronic Commerce: Extending the Contract Net Framework Tuomas Sandholm and Victor Lesser
Self Organizational Approach for Integration of Distributed Expert Systems Tatsuaki Itoh, Takashi Watanabe, and Takahira Yamaguchi
RESOURCE CONTENTION (2)
Dilemmas in computational societies N.S. Glance and T. Hogg
Resource contention in multiagent systems M. Youssefmir and B.A. Huberman