Programming Agents with Visual Rules

A visual programming facility is described which is based on a visual rule formalism. It permits programmers to specify the behaviors of agents in the class of program objects in the Agentsheets system of Repen-ning. The resulting agents can be used in designing simulations for two-dimensional cellular worlds such as in automobile traac ow situations, video games, and cellular automata studies. The programming facility , called \Agent Builder," is integrated into the Agentsheets system (providing a substitute for the non-visual AgenTalk editor) in such a way that agent programming becomes a process of arranging icons in a worksheet, using a special gallery of icons. Several applications of Agent Builder are presented, and its limitations and possible extensions are discussed.