Authors:
Ted Scully
1
and
Michael G. Madden
2
Affiliations:
1
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland
;
2
National University of Ireland, Ireland
Keyword(s):
Cooperation, Multi-Agent System, Coalitions, Negotiation, Protocol.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Agents
;
Artificial Intelligence
;
Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support Systems
;
Auctions and Markets
;
Cooperation and Coordination
;
Distributed and Mobile Software Systems
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Formal Methods
;
Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics
;
Intelligent Control Systems and Optimization
;
Knowledge Engineering and Ontology Development
;
Knowledge-Based Systems
;
Multi-Agent Systems
;
Negotiation and Interaction Protocols
;
Planning and Scheduling
;
Simulation and Modeling
;
Software Engineering
;
Symbolic Systems
;
Task Planning and Execution
Abstract:
The issue of collaboration amongst agents in a multi-agent system (MAS) represents a challenging research problem. In this paper we focus on a form of cooperation known as coalition formation. The problem we consider is how to facilitate the formation of a coalition in a competitive marketplace, where self-interested agents must cooperate by forming a coalition in order to complete a task. Agents must reach a consensus on both the monetary amount to charge for completion of a task as well as the distribution of the required workload. The problem is further complicated because different subtasks have various degrees of difficulty and each agent is uncertain of the payment another agent requires for performing specific subtasks. These complexities, coupled
with the self-interested nature of agents, can inhibit or even prevent the formation of coalitions in such a real-world setting. As a solution, an auction-based protocol called ACCORD is proposed. ACCORD manages real-world complexiti
es by promoting the adoption of cooperative behaviour amongst agents. Through extensive empirical analysis we analyse the ACCORD protocol and demonstrate that cooperative and fair behaviour is dominant and any agents deviating from this behaviour perform less well over time.
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