Professor: Yu Zhang

office: 201H HAS

phone: 7399

email: yzhang@cs.trinity.edu

office hours: TR 3:45-5:45pm or by appointment

Course Pre-requisites

An understanding of the principle of programming in high level languages such as C or Java.
Familiarity with the basic concepts and issues of artificial intelligence such as the role of search and knowledge representation.
Familiarity with basic set and logic notation.

Textbook

Wooldridge, M. (2009). An Introduction to Multiagent Systems (2nd Edition). Wiley.

Supplementary Reading

Ferber, J. (1999). Multi-Agent Systems. Addison-Wesley. (In library.)
Weiss, G. (1999). Multi-Agent Systems. MIT Press. (In library.)
Bradshaw, G. (1997). Software Agents. AAAI Press. (In library.)
Huhns, M. and Singh, P. (1998). Reading in Agents. Morgan Kaufmann. (Not in library.)
Wooldridge, M. and Rao, A. (1999). Foundations of Rational Agency. Applied Logic Series, Vol. 14, Kluwer. (In library.)
Wooldridge, M. (2000). Reasoning about Rational Agents. MIT Press. (In library.)

Course Wiki

http://trinity-case.wikidot.com/start.

Two Goals of This Course

1. Academic Goal

Multi-Agent Systems has emerged as one of the most important areas of research and development in information technology in the 1990s. Multi-agent systems are important primarily because they have been found to have very wide applicability, in areas as diverse as industrial process control and electronic commence.

The academic goal of this course is to learn about the theory and practice of building multi-agent systems. You will have the opportunity to learn and hone your skills in the following areas:

1. Intelligent agents,
2. Logical agents,
3. Multi-agent system architectures,
4. Utility-based models and decision theory.

1. Understand the notion of an agent, how agents are distinct from other software paradigms (e.g. objects), and understand the characteristics of applications that lend themselves to an agent-oriented solution;
2. Understand the key issues associated with construncting agents capable of intelligent autonomous action, and the main approaches taken to developing such agents;
3. Understand the key issues in designed societies of agents that can effectively cooperate in order to solve problems, including an understanding of the key types of multi-agent interactions possible in such systems;
4. Understand the main application areas of agent-based solutions, and be able to develop a meaningful agent-based system using a contemporary agent development platform.

2. Scientific Literacy Goal

Multi-Agent Systems is a multidisciplinary area. Therefore, the second goal of this course is to advance computer science (CS) majors such that they can solve increasingly multidisciplinary problems. MAS will provide students with a strong foundation in the scientific literacy required to expertly identify and use knowledge of multidisciplinary problems. You will have the opportunity to learn and hone your skills in the following areas.

1. Research Method. Our teaching activities will center on the issues contributing to making a successful researcher, including the choice of the research problem, the way to attack it, the way to communicate one's results to his/her research community, and the way one collaborates with his/her group in a team project.
2. Library Research Tools. The library is a rich resource for research but this is often a mystery to students. Students will learn how to use library research tools in general, such as E-Journals and Interlibrary Loan service, followed by a focus on common library databases, such as Web of Science, and searching skills. The students will apply this knowledge to selecting their own readings in preparing for their projects.
3. Technical Writing. It is a tradition for the MAS course that all students participate in the process of writing for a publication in NCUR (National Conference of Undergraduate Research). Through this process, students will learn how to write abstracts, introductions and conclusions, proposals, progress reports and research reports.
4. Effective Presentation Skill. Students will develop their ability to present their own work, because presentations encourage broader dissemination of one's work and highlight work that may not receive attention in written form.
5. Ethics and Professionalism. Three basic topics will be: 1) the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) code of ethics, 2) the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer's Computer Society (ACM/IEEE) joint software engineering code of ethics and professional practices, and 3) intellectual property and contracts.

Useful Links

Agent Related Links from Wooldridge.
Textbook Link from Wooldridge.

Primer on Coding and Documentation Conventions

This document explains the Java coding and documentation conventions we made consistently across the entire MAS code.

Email and WWW

We will be using an email list this semester to communicate pertinent messages to everyone in the class. I will put together the list of email addresses in the first two weeks of class. It is the student's responsbility to ensure that they watch for and read any messages throughout the semester. In addition, this web page will continually be updated with the class schedule, resources, and other information.

Late Turn-in Policy

No work will be accepted after the due day.

Attendance Policy

Lecture attendance is encouraged, but will not be used for grades. Unavoidable absences are understood, but each student is responsible for any missed material. For excused absences, an opportunity will be provided to make up any graded work that was missed. For unexcused absences, a grade of zero will be assigned for in-class assignment. Missed exams will be rescheduled without penalty for an excused absence, or with a 25% penalty if the absence is not excused. If you are going to be absent when an assgnment is due you should try to turn in the lab early. If that is not possible, be sure to include a request for an extended turn-in time in your e-mail.

To request approval of an absence or late turn-in, send me an e-mail explaining the reason prior to the class or due date. Tell me if you believe it is a university excused absence. If advance notification is not possible (e.g. unexpected illness) send the e-mail within 48 hours of the absence and be sure to explain why you were not able to notify me in advance. For illness, follow-up the e-mail by submitting a note from a doctor or clinic to my office.

Miscellaneous Notes

All students are covered by Academic Honor Code. Do not copy anybody else's homework assignments, exams, quizes, source codes, and any material used in previous semesters. You are welcome to talk with each other about problems and solutions unless otherwise specified, but do not turn in syntactically similar work. Cheating will be dealt with according to the university's policies on academic integrity.

If you have a documented disability and will need accomodations in this class, please speak with me privately early in the semester so I may be prepared to meet your needs. If you have not already registered with Disability Services for Students, contact the office at 999-7411. You must be registered with DSS before I can provide accommodations.

Project, Presentation, and Report

There will be no exam. The primary work for the course will be a group project. Below is the information.

Each group are required to give a proposal presentation, a midterm presentation, and a final presentation to the entire class. Along with each presentation, a written report will be submitted to the instructor. The proposal report must be at least 6 pages (single space, font 12, Times). The midterm and final report requires at least 12 and 18 pages, respectively.

In first class, students will receive reading material and suggested problems from me. During the first week's meetings, students will review this material and discuss the positive and negative aspects of the proposed project. In the second week, each group will make a decision on the specific problem that the group will pursue. In the third week, each group will give a proposal presentation to the entire class. A written proposal will be submitted to the indstructor. During the eighth week, each group will do a midterm progress presentation to the entire class. Their written report will not merely outline the progress to this point, but should contain arguments supporting the student's research. This process will culminate during the final week when the group gives their final project presentation and turns in their final written report.

Grading

Grades will be determined by the percentage of total points earned during the course of the semester. The total points will be computed according to the following approximate weighting scheme, though it is subject to slight adjustment as appropriate:

The cutoff for an `A' will be at most 90%, 80% for a `B', 70% for a `C', and 60% for a `D'. However, these cutoffs might be lowered at the end of the semester to accomodate the actual distribution of grades.

Tentative Schedule

The following is a planning schedule. It may be modified as necessary during the course. Students will be expected to have some familiarity with the material in the schedule at the beginning of the lecture.