MLFC: From 10 to 50 Planners in the Multi-Agent Programming Contest

Book chapter

Cardoso, R. C., Ferrando, A., Papacchini, F., Luckcuck, M., Linker, S. and Payne, T. R. 2021. MLFC: From 10 to 50 Planners in the Multi-Agent Programming Contest. in: Ahlbrecht, T., Dix, J., Fiekas, N. and Krausburg, T. (ed.) The Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2021 One-and-a-Half Decades of Exploring Multi-Agent Systems Switzerland Springer. pp. 82–107
AuthorsCardoso, R. C., Ferrando, A., Papacchini, F., Luckcuck, M., Linker, S. and Payne, T. R.
EditorsAhlbrecht, T., Dix, J., Fiekas, N. and Krausburg, T.
Abstract

In this paper, we describe the strategies used by our team, MLFC, that led us to achieve the 2nd place in the 15th
edition of the Multi-Agent Programming Contest. The scenario used in the contest is an extension of the previous edition (14th) “Agents Assemble” wherein two teams of agents move around a 2D grid and compete to assemble complex block structures. We discuss the languages and tools used during the development of our team. Then, we summarise the main strategies that were carried over from our previous participation in the 14th edition and list the limitations (if any) of using these strategies in the latest contest edition. We also developed new strategies that were made specifically for the extended scenario: cartography (determining the size of the map); formal verification of the map merging protocol (to provide assurances that it works when increasing the number of agents); plan cache (efficiently scaling the number of planners); task achievement (forming groups of agents to achieve tasks); and bullies (agents that focus on stopping agents from the opposing team). Finally, we give a brief overview of our performance in the contest and discuss what we believe were our shortcomings.

KeywordsMulti-Agent Programming Contest; Multi-Agent Systems; Automated Planning
Page range82–107
Year2021
Book titleThe Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2021 One-and-a-Half Decades of Exploring Multi-Agent Systems
PublisherSpringer
Place of publicationSwitzerland
Series Lecture Notes in Computer Science
ISBN9783030885489
9783030885496
ISSN0302-9743
1611-3349
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88549-6_4
Web address (URL)https://arxiv.org/pdf/2110.08172
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88549-6_4
Output statusPublished
Publication dates01 Oct 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited31 Jan 2023
EventThe Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2021 One-and-a-Half Decades of Exploring Multi-Agent Systems
Permalink -

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/9w90z/mlfc-from-10-to-50-planners-in-the-multi-agent-programming-contest

Log in to edit
  • 13
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 4
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

CSP2Turtle: Verified Turtle Robot Plans
Dara MacConville, Marie Farrell, Luckcuck, M. and Rosemary Monahan 2023. CSP2Turtle: Verified Turtle Robot Plans. Robotics. 12 (62), pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics12020062
An Abstract Architecture for Explainable Autonomy in Hazardous Environments
Matt Luckcuck, Hazel M Taylor and Marie Farrell 2022. An Abstract Architecture for Explainable Autonomy in Hazardous Environments. 2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference Workshops (REW). IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/rew56159.2022.00027
Modelling the Turtle Python library in CSP
MacConville, D., Farrell, M., Matt Luckcuck and Monahan, R. 2022. Modelling the Turtle Python library in CSP. Second Workshop on Agents and Robots for reliable Engineered Autonomy. Open Publishing Association, Australia. https://doi.org/10.4204/eptcs.362.4
Bridging the gap between single- and multi-model predictive runtime verification
Angelo Ferrando, Rafael C. Cardoso, Marie Farrell, Matt Luckcuck, Fabio Papacchini, Michael Fisher and Viviana Mascardi 2022. Bridging the gap between single- and multi-model predictive runtime verification. Formal Methods in System Design. 59, p. 44–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10703-022-00395-7
Formal Verification of a Map Merging Protocol in the Multi-agent Programming Contest
Luckcuck, M. and Cardoso, R. C. 2022. Formal Verification of a Map Merging Protocol in the Multi-agent Programming Contest. in: Alechina, N., Baldoni, M. and Logan, B. (ed.) Engineering Multi-Agent Systems Switzerland Springer. pp. 198–217
Evolution of the IEEE P7009 Standard: Towards Fail-Safe Design of Autonomous Systems
Farrell, M., Luckcuck, M., Pullum, L., Fisher, M., Hessami, A., Danit, G., Murahwi, Z. and Wallace, K. 2022. Evolution of the IEEE P7009 Standard: Towards Fail-Safe Design of Autonomous Systems. 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW). IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/issrew53611.2021.00109
Towards Refactoring FRETish Requirements
Farrell, M., Luckcuck, M., Sheridan, O. and Monahan, R. 2022. Towards Refactoring FRETish Requirements. in: Deshmukh, J. V., Havelund, K. and Perez, I. (ed.) NASA Formal Methods Switzerland Springer. pp. 272–279
FRETting About Requirements: Formalised Requirements for an Aircraft Engine Controller
Farrell, M., Luckcuck, M., Sheridan, O. and Monahan, R. 2022. FRETting About Requirements: Formalised Requirements for an Aircraft Engine Controller. in: Gervasi, V. and Vogelsang, A. (ed.) Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality Switzerland Springer. pp. 96-111
Using formal methods for autonomous systems: Five recipes for formal verification
Luckcuck, M. Using formal methods for autonomous systems: Five recipes for formal verification. Journal of Risk and Reliability. pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748006x211034970
An Overview of Verification and Validation Challenges for Inspection Robots
Fisher, M., Cardoso, R. C., Collins, E. C., Dadswell, C., Denis, L. A., Dixon, C., Farrell, M., Ferrando, A., Huang, X., Jump, M., Kourtis, G., Lisista, A., Luckcuck, M., Luo, S., Page, V., Papacchini, F. and Webster, M. 2021. An Overview of Verification and Validation Challenges for Inspection Robots. Robotics. 10 (2), pp. 1-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics10020067
Towards Compositional Verification for Modular Robotic Systems
Luckcuck, M., Cardoso, R., Dennis, L., Farrell, M. and Fisher, M. 2020. Towards Compositional Verification for Modular Robotic Systems. Second International Workshop on Formal Methods for Autonomous Systems. . https://doi.org/10.4204/eptcs.329.2
Heterogeneous Verification of an Autonomous Curiosity Rover
Cardoso, R. C., Farrell, M., Luckcuck, M., Ferrando, A. and Fisher, M. 2020. Heterogeneous Verification of an Autonomous Curiosity Rover. in: Lee, R., Jha, S., Mavridou, A. and Giannakopoulou, D. (ed.) NASA Formal Methods Switzerland Springer. pp. 353–360
Formal specification and verification of autonomous robotic systems: A survey
Luckcuck, M., Farrell, M., Dennis, L.A., Dixon, C. and Fisher, M. 2019. Formal specification and verification of autonomous robotic systems: A survey. ACM Computing Surveys. 52 (5), pp. 1-41. https://doi.org/10.1145/3342355
A Summary of Formal Specification and Verification of Autonomous Robotic Systems
Luckcuck, M., Farrell, M., Denis, L. A., Dixon, C. and Fisher, M. 2019. A Summary of Formal Specification and Verification of Autonomous Robotic Systems. in: Ahrendt, W. and Tarifa, S. L. T. (ed.) Integrated Formal Methods Switzerland Springer. pp. 538–541
Robotics and Integrated Formal Methods: Necessity Meets Opportunity
Luckcuck, M., Farrell, M. and Fisher, M. 2018. Robotics and Integrated Formal Methods: Necessity Meets Opportunity. in: Furia, C. A. and Winter, K. (ed.) Integrated Formal Methods Switzerland Springer. pp. 161–171
Verifiable Self-Certifying Autonomous Systems
Fisher, M., Collins, E., Dennis, L., Luckcuck, M., Webster, M., Jump, M., Page, V., Patchett, C., Dinmohammadi, F., Flynn, D., Robu, V. and Zhao, X. 2018. Verifiable Self-Certifying Autonomous Systems. 29th IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops, ISSREW 2018. IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/issrew.2018.00028
A Formal Model of the Safety-Critical Java Level 2 Paradigm
Luckcuck, M., Cavalcanti, A. and Wellings, A. 2016. A Formal Model of the Safety-Critical Java Level 2 Paradigm. in: Ábrahám, E. and Huisman, M. (ed.) Integrated Formal Methods Switzerland Springer. pp. 226–241
Safety-Critical Java: level 2 in practice
Luckcuck, M., Wellings, A. and Cavalcanti, A. 2016. Safety-Critical Java: level 2 in practice. Concurrency Computation. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.3951
A Formal Model for the SCJ Level 2 Paradigm
Luckcuck, M. 2015. A Formal Model for the SCJ Level 2 Paradigm. Doctoral Symposium of Formal Methods 2015. University of Oslo.