O-MaSE: A Customizable Approach to Developing Multiagent Development Processes1

This paper describes the Organization-based Multiagent System Engineering (O-MaSE) Process Framework, which helps process engineers define custom multiagent systems development processes. O-MaSE builds off the MaSE methodology and is adapted from the OPEN Process Framework (OPF). OPF implements a Method Engineering approach to process construction. The goal of O-MaSE is to allow designers to create customized agent-oriented software development processes. O-MaSE consists of three basic structures: (1) a metamodel, (2) a set of methods fragments, and (3) a set of guidelines. The O-MaSE metamodel defines the key concepts needed to design and implement multiagent systems. The method fragments are operations or tasks that are executed to produce a set of work products, which may include models, documents, or code. The guidelines define how the method fragments are related to one another. The paper also demonstrates two examples of creating custom O-MaSE processes.