Abstract
This paper addresses distributed task allocation in complex scenarios modeled using the distributed constraint optimization problem (DCOP) formalism. It is well known that DCOP, when used to model complex scenarios, generates problems with exponentially growing number of parameters. However, those scenarios are becoming ubiquitous in real-world applications. Therefore, approximate solutions are necessary. We propose and evaluate an algorithm for distributed task allocation. This algorithm, called Swarm-GAP, is based on theoretical models of division of labor in social insect colonies. It uses a probabilistic decision model. Swarm-GAP is experimented both in a scenario from RoboCup Rescue and an abstract simulation environment. We show that Swarm-GAP achieves similar results as other recent proposed algorithm with a reduction in communication and computation. Thus, our approach is highly scalable regarding both the number of agents and tasks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Goldman, C., Zilberstein, S.: Decentralized control of cooperative systems: Categorization and complexity analysis. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research 22, 143–174 (2004)
Kitano, H.: Robocup rescue: A grand challenge for multi-agent systems. In: Proc. of the 4th International Conference on MultiAgent Systems, Boston, USA, pp. 5–12. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2000)
Lesser, V.: Cooperative multiagent systems: A personal view of the state of the art. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering 11(1), 133–142 (1999)
Maheswaran, R.T., Tambe, M., Bowring, E., Pearce, J.P., Varakantham, P.: Taking DCOP to the real world: Efficient complete solutions for distributed multi-event scheduling. In: Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, Washington, DC, USA, July 2004, vol. 1, pp. 310–317. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2004)
Modi, P.J., Shen, W.-M., Tambe, M., Yokoo, M.: An asynchronous complete method for distributed constraint optimization. In: Proc. of the Second International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 161–168. ACM Press, New York (2003)
Nair, R., Ito, T., Tambe, M., Marsella, S.: Task allocation in the rescue simulation domain: A short note. In: Birk, A., Coradeschi, S., Tadokoro, S. (eds.) RoboCup 2001. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 2377, pp. 751–754. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)
Petcu, A., Faltings, B.: A scalable method for multiagent constraint optimization. In: Kaelbling, L.P., Saffiotti, A. (eds.) Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 2005, pp. 266–271. Professional Book Center (2005)
Scerri, P., Farinelli, A., Okamoto, S., Tambe, M.: Allocating tasks in extreme teams. In: Proc. of the Fourth International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 727–734. ACM Press, New York (2005)
Shmoys, D.B., Tardos, V.: An approximation algorithm for the generalized assignment problem. Mathematical Programming 62(3), 461–474 (1993)
Skinner, C., Barley, M.: Robocup rescue simulation competition: Status report. In: Bredenfeld, A., Jacoff, A., Noda, I., Takahashi, Y. (eds.) RoboCup 2005. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4020, pp. 632–639. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)
Theraulaz, G., Bonabeau, E., Deneubourg, J.: Response threshold reinforcement and division of labour in insect societies. In: Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences, vol. 265, pp. 327–332 (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ferreira, P.R., Boffo, F.S., Bazzan, A.L.C. (2008). Using Swarm-GAP for Distributed Task Allocation in Complex Scenarios. In: Jamali, N., Scerri, P., Sugawara, T. (eds) Massively Multi-Agent Technology. AAMAS 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5043. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85449-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85449-4_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-85448-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-85449-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)