A methodology describes a systematic process: in the case of software development it specifies aspects of the design process (1). For example, in object oriented software development one is likely to find distinct phases depending on the methodology being used, e.g. planning, analysis, design and implementation. By using a methodology the chances of developing a good quality system is increased, whilst also decreasing the overall complexity of the design process (2). Experiences gained from object oriented methodologies are beneficial but they are not able to fully capture the complex dynamics of a MAS. Early efforts at developing a methodology concentrated on extending the object oriented approach, such as MaSE (3) or Gaia (4), or by implementing methods used by the knowledge engineering community (5), such as MAS-CommonKADS (6). These approaches result in a top-down, “functional”, hierarchical design. Fig 1 illustrates the different stages of the design methodology developed for the PEDA system, further details of the methodology can be obtained from (7).

Fig 1. The agent design methodology stages and their output, used during the design of the PEDA system (8)

Various MAS architectures have been presented for control systems, for example SA CIRCA (9), and also specific methodologies for MAS distributed control systems such as DACS (10). For mission critical systems such as a MAS for system control validation and verification of that system is necessary. Despite the importance of this many of the above methodologies do not address testing. Tichy et. al (11) note that “there is a strong need for agent testing to ensure that the whole system works properly and that the emergent system behaviour is correct”.

References

  1. N. R. J. S. Bussmann and M. Wooldridge, Multiagent Systems for Manufacturing Control. Spriner-Verlag, 2004.
  2. L. Trussell, “Essential software development methodology,” Power Engineering Society 1999 Winter Meeting, IEEE, vol. 1, pp. 357-361 vol.1, Jan-4 Feb 1999.
  3. S. A. DeLoach, “Multiagent systems engineering: A methodology and language for designing agent systems,” in Agent-Oriented Information Systems ’99 (AOIS’99), 1999
  4. M. Wooldridge, N. R. Jennings, and D. Kinny, “The gaia methodology for agent-oriented analysis and design,” Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, vol. 3, pp. 285-312, 2000.
  5. R. A. Michael Luck and M. D’Inverno. Agent-Based Software Development, Artech House Publishers, Boston, 2004
  6. C. A. Iglesias, M. Garijo, J. Centeno-Gonzalez, and J. R. Velasco, “Analysis and design of multiagent systems using mas-common kads,” in ATAL ’97: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Intelligent Agents IV, Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages. London, UK: Springer-Verlag, 1998, pp. 313-327.
  7. S.D.J. McArthur, J.R. McDonald, and J.A. Hossak, “A multi-agent approach to power system disturbance diagnosis,” in Autonomous Systems and Intelligent Agents in Power System Control and Operation (Power Systems), C. Rehtanz, Ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, Jul. 2003, pp. 75-99
  8. E.M. Davidson, S.D.J. McArthur, J.R. McDonald, T. Cumming, and I. Watt, “Applying multi-agent system technology in practice: Automated management and analysis of SCADA and digital fault recorder data,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 21, no.2, pp. 559-567, May 2006.
  9. D. J. Musliner, R. P. Goldman, M. J. Pelican, K. D. Krebsbach, E. H. Dunfee, K. G. Shiu and E. Atkins. “SA-CIRCA: Self-Adaptive Control for Mission-Critical Systems”. Honeywell Technology Center, Minneapolismn. Final Report, 2002.
  10. S. Bussmann, N. R. Jennings, M. Wooldridge. Multiagent Systems for Manufacturing Control, Springer Series on Agent Technology, 2004.
  11. P. Tichy, P. Slechta, R. Staron, F. Maturana and K. Hall. “Multiagent Technology for Fault Tolerance and Flexible Control”, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics – Part C, Vol. 36, No. 5, 2006

Citation

If you want to reference material on this topic, please consider citing these papers as appropriate:

  • S. D. J. McArthur; E. M. Davidson; V. M. Catterson; A. L. Dimeas; N. D. Hatziargyriou; F. Ponci; T. Funabashi, “Multi-Agent Systems for Power Engineering Applications—Part I: Concepts, Approaches, and Technical Challenges”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 22, No. 4, November 2007.
  • S. D. J. McArthur; E. M. Davidson; V. M. Catterson; A. L. Dimeas; N. D. Hatziargyriou; F. Ponci; T. Funabashi, “Multi-Agent Systems for Power Engineering Applications—Part II: Technologies, Standards, and Tools for Building Multi-agent Systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 22, No. 4, November 2007.