Table Of ContentLecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 2581
SubseriesofLectureNotesinComputerScience
EditedbyJ.G.CarbonellandJ.Siekmann
Lecture Notes in Computer Science
EditedbyG.Goos,J.Hartmanis,andJ.vanLeeuwen
3
Berlin
Heidelberg
NewYork
Barcelona
HongKong
London
Milan
Paris
Tokyo
Jaime Sima˜o Sichman Franc¸ois Bousquet
Paul Davidsson (Eds.)
Multi-Agent-Based
Simulation II
Third International Workshop, MABS 2002
Bologna, Italy, July 15-16, 2002
Revised Papers
1 3
SeriesEditors
JaimeG.Carbonell,CarnegieMellonUniversity,Pittsburgh,PA,USA
Jo¨rgSiekmann,UniversityofSaarland,Saarbru¨cken,Germany
VolumeEditors
JaimeSima˜oSichman
UniversityofSa˜oPaulo,PolytechnicalSchool
ComputerEngineeringDepartment,IntelligentTechniquesLaboratory
Av.Prof.LucianoGualberto,158,travessa3,05424-970,Sa˜oPaulo,Brazil
E-mail:[email protected]
Franc¸oisBousquet
IRRI-Cirad
P.O.Box9-159,Chatuchak10900Bangkok,Thailand
E-mail:[email protected]
PaulDavidsson
BlekingeInstituteofTechnology
DepartmentofSoftwareEngineeringandComputerScience
P.O.Box520,37225Ronneby,Sweden
E-mail:[email protected]
Cataloging-in-PublicationDataappliedfor
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
BibliographicinformationpublishedbyDieDeutscheBibliothek.
DieDeutscheBibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataisavailableintheInternetat<http://dnb.ddb.de>.
CRSubjectClassification(1998):I.2.11,I.2,I.6,C.2.4,J.4,H.5
ISSN0302-9743
ISBN3-540-00607-9Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelbergNewYork
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.Allrightsarereserved,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialis
concerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,re-useofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,
reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherway,andstorageindatabanks.Duplicationofthispublication
orpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsoftheGermanCopyrightLawofSeptember9,1965,
initscurrentversion,andpermissionforusemustalwaysbeobtainedfromSpringer-Verlag.Violationsare
liableforprosecutionundertheGermanCopyrightLaw.
Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelbergNewYork
amemberofBertelsmannSpringerScience+BusinessMediaGmbH
http://www.springer.de
©Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2003
PrintedinGermany
Typesetting:Camera-readybyauthor,dataconversionbyPTP-Berlin,StefanSossnae.K.
Printedonacid-freepaper SPIN:10872386 06/3142 543210
Preface
This volume presents extended and revised versions of the papers presented at
the Third International Workshop on Multi-Agent Based Simulation (MABS
2002), a workshop federated with the First International Joint Conference on
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS 2002), which was held
in Bologna, Italy, in July, 2002.
This workshop was the third in the MABS series. The earlier two were or-
ganizedasworkshopsofthetwomostrecentICMASconferences(ICMAS1998,
Paris, France and ICMAS 2000, Boston, USA). Revised versions of the papers
presented at these workshops were published as volumes 1534 and 1979 in the
Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series.
One aim of the workshop was to develop stronger links between those work-
ing in the social sciences and those involved with multi-agent systems. We are
pleased to note that many important conferences in various disciplines such as
geography, economics, ecology, sociology, and physics have hosted workshops on
MABS-related topics and that many respected journals publish papers that in-
cludeelementsofMABS.ButalthoughMABSisgraduallyacquiringlegitimacy
in many disciplinary fields, much remains to be done to clarify the potential use
of MABS in these disciplines. Researchers from these disciplines have different
points of view on issues such as time-frame, space, geographical scales, orga-
nizational levels, etc. Moreover, the interest in MABS goes beyond the scientific
community, as MABS models have been developed and used interactively with
other communities as well. For instance, research is being done on the interac-
tions between societies of robots and groups of people, and simulation models
are being developed with stakeholders for environmental issues in a participa-
tory way, through the Internet or directly in the field. These new approaches
leadtonewresearchquestionsregardingtheuseofMABSforcollectivedecision
making, but also regarding the conceptual and technical aspects of MABS.
Withinthisframeworkofinteractionsbetweenartificialandhumansocieties,
special attention was given to the conceptual and technical aspects (agent ar-
chitecture,interactionprotocols,simulationplatforms,modelingprotocols,time
andspacerepresentation,presentationofsimulationresults)resultingfromthese
interactions and favoring them.
A total of 26 papers were submitted to the workshop. After having been
reviewed by at least two referees, 12 were accepted for presentation. After the
workshop,allpaperswereextendedandrevised,andreviewedasecondtime.At
the workshop Alexis Drogoul gave an invited talk and an article by him and his
colleagues has been added to those accepted for the workshop proceedings.
We are very grateful to the participants who engaged enthusiastically in
the discussions about both individual papers and the general issues facing the
MABS community. We are also grateful to the authors for their punctuality
and the grace with which they received and responded to the second round of
VI Preface
reviews.WewouldliketothankKeithDecker,theAAMAS2002workshopchair,
for having selected the Multi-Agent Based Simulation workshop among a large
number of interesting proposals. We are also grateful to Maria Gini and Toru
Ishida, the AAMAS 2002 general chairs, and to Cristiano Castelfranchi and
Lewis Johnson, the AAMAS 2002 program chairs, for having organized such
an excellent conference. Particularly, we would like to express our gratitude to
Andrea Omicini and Franco Zambonelli, the AAMAS 2002 local organization
chairs, for arranging the infrastructure for the workshop.
Finally,wethankAlfredHofmannandhisteamatSpringer-Verlagforgiving
ustheopportunitytocontinuetodisseminatetheresultsofthemulti-agentbased
simulation research agenda to a broader audience.
Sa˜o Paulo, November 2002 Jaime Sima˜o Sichman
Franc¸ois Bousquet
Paul Davidsson
Workshop Chairs
Jaime Sim˜ao Sichman (University of Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil)
Franc¸ois Bousquet (IRRI-Cirad, Thailand)
Paul Davidsson (Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden)
Program Committee
Innocent Bakam (University of Douala, Cameroon)
Rafael Bordini (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
Franc¸ois Bousquet (CIRAD/IRRI, Thailand)
Helder Coelho (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Rosaria Conte (IP/CNR, Italy)
Paul Davidsson (Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden)
Jim Doran (University of Essex, UK)
Alexis Drogoul (University Paris VI, France)
Nigel Gilbert (University of Surrey, UK)
Mat Hare (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Wander Jager (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
Marco Janssen (Indiana University, USA)
Scott Moss (University of Manchester, UK)
Christof le Page (CIRAD, France)
Jouliette Rouchier (GREQAM/CNRS, France)
Keith Sawyer (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
Jaime Sim˜ao Sichman (University of Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil) (Chair)
Klaus Troitzsch (University of Koblenz, Germany)
John Tyler (MITRE Corporation, USA)
Harko Verhagen (University of Stockholm, Sweden)
Table of Contents
Invited Paper
Multi-agent Based Simulation: Where Are the Agents? ................ 1
Alexis Drogoul, Diane Vanbergue, and Thomas Meurisse (University
Paris VI, France)
Emergence, Alliances, and Groups
BVG Choice in Axelrod’s Tribute Model ............................ 16
Luis Antunes (University of Lisbon, Portugal), Leonel No´brega
(University of Madeira, Portugal), and Helder Coelho
(University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Evolving Specialisation, Altruism, and Group-Level Optimisation
Using Tags....................................................... 26
David Hales (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
The Need for and Development of Behaviourally Realistic Agents ....... 36
Wander Jager (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) and
Marco Janssen (Indiana University, USA)
Relating Structure and Dynamics in Organisation Models ............. 50
Catholijn M. Jonker and Jan Treur (Vrije Universiteit,
The Netherlands)
MABS Platforms and Languages
The MOCA Platform: Simulating the Dynamics of Social Networks ..... 70
Matthieu Amiguet (University of Neuchaˆtel, Switzerland),
Jean-Pierre Mu¨ller (CIRAD, France), Jos´e-A. Baez-Barranco, and
Adina Nagy (University of Neuchaˆtel, Switzerland)
Towards an Emergence-Driven Software Process for
Agent-Based Simulation ........................................... 89
Nuno David (ISCTE, Portugal), Jaime Sima˜o Sichman (University of
S˜aoPaulo,Brazil),andHelderCoelho(UniversityofLisbon,Portugal)
Towards an Ideal Social Simulation Language......................... 105
Bruce Edmonds (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
X Table of Contents
Requirements Analysis of Agent-Based Simulaton Platforms: State of the
Art and New Prospects ............................................ 125
Maria Bruno Marietto (University of Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil), Nuno David
(ISCTE, Portugal), Jaime Sima˜o Sichman (University of Sa˜o Paulo,
Brazil), and Helder Coelho (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
MABS Applications
On the Simulation of Multiagent-Based Regulators for
Physiological Processes ............................................ 142
Francesco Amigoni and Nicola Gatti (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Multi-agent Patrolling: An Empirical Analysis of
Alternative Architectures .......................................... 155
Aydano Machado, Geber Ramalho (Federal University of Pernambuco,
Brazil), Jean-Daniel Zucker, and Alexis Drogoul (University Paris VI,
France)
On Multi Agent Based Simulation of Software Development Processes ... 171
Tham Wickenberg and Paul Davidsson (Blekinge Institute
of Technology, Sweden)
A Simulation of the Market for Offenses in Multiagent Systems: Is Zero
Crime Rates Attainable?........................................... 181
Pinata Winoto (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
Author Index................................................... 195
Multi-agent Based Simulation: Where Are the Agents?
Alexis Drogoul, Diane Vanbergue, and Thomas Meurisse
LIP6 – Université Paris 6 – 4 Place Jussieu 75252 PARIS CEDEX 05
{Alexis.Drogoul, Diane.Vanbergue, Thomas.Meurisse}@lip6.fr
Abstract. This paper is devoted to exploring the relationships between
computational agents, as they can be found in multi-agent systems (MAS) or
Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI), and the different techniques regrouped
under the generic name “multi-agent based simulation” (MABS). Its main
purpose is to show that MABS, despite its name, is in fact rarely based on
computational agents. We base our demonstration on an innovative presentation
of the methodological process used in the development of current MABS
systems. This presentation relies on the definition of the different roles involved
in the design process, and we are able to show that the notion of “agent”,
although shared at a conceptual level by the different participants, does not
imply a systematic use of computational agents in the systems deployed. We
then conclude by discussing what the use of computational agents, based on the
most interesting research trends in DAI or MAS, might provide MABS with.
1 Introduction
1.1 Multi-agent Based Simulation
Multi-agent based simulation is nowadays used in a growing number of areas, where
it progressively replaces the various micro-simulation [1], object-oriented [2] or
individual-based simulation techniques [3] previously used. It is due, for the most
part, to its ability to cope with very different models of “individuals”, ranging from
simple entities (usually called “reactive” agents [4]) to more complex ones
(“cognitive” agents [5]). The easiness with which modelers can also handle different
levels of representation (e.g., “individuals” and “groups”, for instance) within an
unified conceptual framework is also particularly appreciated, with respect, for
instance, to cellular automata [6].
This versatility makes MABS emerge as the support of choice for the simulation of
complex systems, and, if we are to trust the proceedings of the various events
dedicated to it (i.e., MABS, Simulating Societies, ABS, etc.) since the last ten years, it
is appealing to more and more scientific domains : sociology [7,10,11,13], biology
[8,14], physics [15], chemistry [8], ecology [9], economy [12] etc.
J.S. Sichman, F. Bousquet, P. Davidsson (Eds.): MABS 2002, LNAI 2581, pp. 1-15, 2003.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003
