From Desires, Obligations and Norms to Goals

Traditional models of agents based on Beliefs, Desires and Intentions usually only include either desires or goals. Therefore the process whereby goals arise from desires is given scant attention. In this paper we argue that the inclusion of both desires and goals in the same model can be important, particularly in a Multi-Agent System context, where other sources of individual motivation such as obligations and norms may be present. This leads us to propose an extended BDI architecture in which obligations, norms and desires are distinguished from goals and explicitly represented. In this paper we consider suitable logical representations for and properties of these elements, and describe the basic method of operation of the architecture, focusing on how goal generation and goal maintenance may occur.