by Paolo Busetta, Ralph Rönnquist, Andrew Hodgson and Andrew Lucas
Abstract and Introduction only
Intelligent Agents are being used for
simple rational
in a wide range of distributed applications.
In particular, multi-agent architectures based on the Belief-Desire-Intention
(BDI) model have been used successfully in situations where
of human reasoning and team
are needed, such as simulating tactical decision-making
in air operations and command and control structures. Other applications include
intelligent decision support, telephone call
and air traffic management.
The JACK™ framework by Agent Oriented
Software brings the concept of intelligent agents into the mainstream of commercial
software engineering and Java. JACK is a third-generation
agent framework, designed as a set of lightweight components with high performance
and strong data typing
We present the design approach and major technical characteristics
of JACK. An outline of a typical development process involving
the framework is given. Also, we discuss the benefits of the component-based
approach, for both the software engineer developing sophisticated distributed
applications, and for the researcher exploring agent models and architectures.
Introduction
Intelligent Agents are being used for
simple rational
in a wide range of distributed applications.
Intelligent agents have received various, possibly contradictory, definitions;
by general consensus, they must show some degree of autonomy, social ability,
and combine proactive and reactive
{Wooldridge, 1995}. One of the better known and
most successful architectures for agents is the Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI)
architecture, which has seen a number of academic and industrial applications.
Agent Oriented Software
(AOS), based in
has built JACK™,
a framework in Java for multi-agent system development. The company's aim is
to provide a platform for commercial, industrial and research applications.
To this end, its framework supplies a high performance, lightweight implementation
of the BDI architecture, and can be easily extended to support different agent
models or specific application requirements.
This paper is
as follows. Section 2 introduces JACK, presenting the approach taken by AOS to its design and outlining its
major engineering characteristics. The BDI model is discussed briefly in Section
3. Section 4 gives an outline of how to build an application with JACK. Finally, in Section 5 we discuss how the use of this framework can be
beneficial to both engineers and researchers.
New in Jack v5.0:
The JACK Development Environment (JDE) has been extended to provide
the ability to trace execution using JACK Design Diagrams.
After configuring the JDE to trace certain diagrams, it can connect to a running JACK™ application and when any transitions occur that match links in the diagram, they will be highlighted.
