04/21/23

SWAN: Sensor Webs as Agents who NegotiateCostas Tsatsoulis (PI) [tsatsoul@ittc.ku.edu], Ed Komp, Najla Ahmad, Chris

Redford

Visualizer

Agent Communication Protocol

Example Scenario

VisualizationA visualization of a simulated area of land. Various layers display different types of information about the area.

Ground Saturation Layer

Colors represent the saturation percentages of the area. The pink square represents the current location of a roving sensor.

Elevation Layer

Colors represent varying elevations of the area. The areas

which are shaded yellow are currently

under observation by a satellite.

Rainfall Layer

Colors represent the current rate of rainfall. The red square represents the location of a sensor which measures this.

Overview

Agent 0Measures: RainfallMobility: Immobile

Agent 1Measures: Ground Saturation Mobility: Ground

Agent 2Measures: ElevationMobility: Orbit (Satellite)

Registration

When sensor agents enter the system, they register with the matchmaker. This gives the matchmaker their unique ID and allows it to assign and tell them their queue number. The agent then advertises its capabilities to the matchmaker so that it can match them with agents who need their capabilities.

Capability Request

When an agent requires a special sensing capability that it doesn’t have itself, it asks the matchmaker to recommend all of the agents it thinks can meet its capabilities. The agent then asks if one of these other sensing agents can perform the capabilities it needs.

Negotiation

Sometimes an agent will give a simple yes or no answer to this capability request. However, ideally, rather than simply saying “no” to a request it can’t meet, an agent will recommend a reasonable alternative to the request which it can perform. This process of negotiation is traced with teal arrows.

Motivation

NASA has a variety of sensors covering the globe from stationary weather sensors to nominally mobile buoys to unmanned vehicles to orbiting satellites. These multiple sensing mediums are vast and not yet integrated into an organized all-inclusive sensing team. So far, sensors only work together when manually instructed to do so.

Objective

The objective of this project is to infuse each of these sensors with an intelligent agent who will coordinate and negotiate with other sensor agents to accomplish far-reaching sensing tasks.

Implementation

We are creating a simulator representing the world that will interact with an agent system representing NASA's sensor web. We will analyze and exhibit the results of our research using a visualizer.

1 The agents register their IDs with and the matchmaker tells them their queue number. Then they advertise their capabilities with the matchmaker.

2 Agent 0 senses an unusually high amount of rainfall and suspects flooding. It first asks the matchmaker to recommend all agents that can sense both ground saturation and elevation. The matchmaker tells it there are none, so it asks for agents that can sense at least ground saturation, and the matchmaker replies with Agent 1. Then it asks for agents that can sense elevation, for which the matchmaker returns Agent 2.

3 Agent 0 asks if Agent 1 can report the ground saturation at its location and Agent 1 gladly tells it (the saturation is high). However, Agent 1 is very close to the river, so this might not constitute flooding. Therefore, knowing that Agent 1 is mobile, Agent 0 asks if Agent 1 can check ground saturation in the block directly northwest of its own location. Agent 1 can’t because it doesn’t have enough gas. Therefore it negotiates the alternative solution of going to the block south of Agent 1. Agent 1 accepts.

4 Agent 0 asks if Agent 2 can sense the elevation at the block south of it to further verify if flooding is immanent. Agent 2 complies.

5 Agent 1 and Agent 2 tell Agent 0 the ground saturation and elevation they observe. Agent 0 acknowledges both of their reports.

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