A Cybernetic Approach to the Modeling of Agent Communities

In an earlier paper [ 1] examples of agent technology in a NASA context were presented. Both groundbased and space-based applications were addressed. This paper continues the discussion of one aspect of the Goddard Space Flight Center's continuing efforts to develop a community of agents that can support both ground-based and space-based systems autonomy. The paper focuses on an approach to agentcommunity modeling based on the theory of viable systems developed by Stafford Beer. It gives the status of an initial attempt to capture some of the agent-community behaviors in a viable system context. This paper is expository in nature and focuses on a discussion of the modeling of some of the underlying concepts and infrastructure that will serve as the basis of more detailed investigative work into the behavior of agent communities.. The paper is organized as follows. First, a general introduction to agent community requirements is presented. Secondly, a brief introduction to the cybernetic concept of a viable system is given. This concept forms the foundation of the modeling approach. Then the concept of an agent community is modeled in the cybernetic context. [ 1] Agent Technology from a NASA Perspective, Walt Truszkowsk et. al., CIA'99 Workshop, Uppsala Sweden, LNCS 1652, Springer-Verlag, 1999 A Cybernetic Approach to the Modeling of Agent Communities Walt Truszkowski Senior Technologist Code 588 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771 [email protected] Jay Karlin Viable Systems Inc 12236 Stoney Bottom Road Germantown, MD 20874 j karlin [email protected]