DOD Software Tech News, Volume 4, Number 4
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Agent Based Computing for Autonomous Intelligent Software James Hendler, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Laura Douglass, Schafer Corporation 1. Background 1.1 Defense Advanced Research coalition operations, improved Projects Agency (DARPA) intelligence gathering, and more In the complex realm of modern Agent Based Computing timely command and control. military operations, commanders are dealing with increasingly diverse 2. Control of Agent Based missions, including operations other Systems (CoABS) than war, expeditionary missions, and controlling dangerous situations The CoABS program consists of in dynamic and uncertain three elementsthe agent grid, environments. All of these missions agent interoperability standards and are further complicated by the the scaling of agent control requirement for joint and coalition The Defense Advanced Research strategies. CoABS has developed coordination. Achieving decision Projects Agency (DARPA) has a novel tools for run-time superiority in these situations is proven record of developing interoperability among becoming increasingly difficult and revolutionary new capabilities in the heterogeneous systems and is complex. The need to gain the right area of software agents, and developing new tools to ensure information at the right time for each continues to take a leadership role in rapid, real-world system integration type of decision maker in this this field. DARPA is currently with other software agents and complex scenario is leading the focusing its research in this area on entities such as servers, databases, Department of Defense (DOD) several initiatives in Agent-Based legacy systems and sensors. toward distributed information Computing (ABC). The ABC suite systems that are managed and of programs will provide the accessed in a network-centric building blocks for understanding manner. and implementing the Software Agents that are the foundation for A key technological innovation intelligent distributed information capable of handling the complexity systems and thus will enhance our of modern warfare is that of software ability to reach decision superiority. agents. Agent-based computing The three initiatives in this effort are focuses on the development of the Control of Agent-Based Systems distributed computational entities (CoABS) program, the DARPA (software agents) which can act on Agent Markup Language (DAML) CoABS has focused on supporting behalf of, mediate or support the program and the Taskable Agent joint and coalition military actions of human users and Software Kit (TASK) program. autonomously carry out tasks to operations. In these domains it is achieve goals or assist the activities Using these programs DARPA will necessary to assemble disparate of the users in achieving those goals. create an environment where information systems into a coherent In the military, using these agents intelligent distributed computing interoperating whole without will improve our information and will be as easy and ubiquitous in the redesigning or reimplementing the decision management capabilities future as data exchange is now. The systems into a single common and thus drastically reduce the payoffs to DOD will be seen in architecture. To achieve this, it is complexities of modern warfare. improved interoperability of necessary to construct an heterogeneous systems, support for information environment where 2 STN 4-4: Software Agents these systems are accessible to each component for Millennium with Berners-Lee and the World other and their users, resulting in an Challenge 2002, operating in the Wide Web Consortium to ensure intelligent distributed information Agile Commander ATD sponsored DAML fits with its plans for the system. by Army CECOM, and contributing semantic web and becomes the to the Air Forces ATD in effects recommended web language for To achieve an operational based operations and several of the semantic interoperability. The most environment for such a distributed Joint Battlespace Infosphere-related up to date version of the language is information system, a mechanism is projects. available on the web, as are needed to enable the dynamic, documents on its use, tools, and runtime integration of agent, object, 3. DARPA Agent Markup demonstrations (www.daml.org). and legacy software components into Language (DAML) applications. The key to this An exciting military application for capability is the CoABS Grid, which Currently, the languages used on the DAML is the Horus initiative, a is software that provides a service- World Wide Web impose a joint DARPA-Intelink Management based middleware infrastructure for significant limitation on agent based Office project, which introduces a managing complex information computing. Going far beyond XML, new way of organizing and flows. The Grid supports the the DAML programs goal is to presenting intelligence information development of applications for develop a language that allows to users of Intelink, the DOD dynamic domains such as military information content to be expressed network for distributing classified command and control, which require on the web in machine-readable intelligence information. Other early the composability, adaptability, and ways. This will make for a whole adopters of DAML include the autonomy provided by software new generation of Internet Center for Army Lessons Learned agents. capabilities. Prototype tools are and the Oak Ridge National being developed to show the Laboratory. Current legacy systems can be potential of such markups to provide brought to the grid through software revolutionary applications that will 4. Taskable Agent wrappers and service descriptions, change the way humans interact with Software Kit (TASK) allowing their functionality to be information. tapped without major recoding. In Developing agent-based software is addition, the cooperative nature of currently something of a black art the problem solving, using an arbitrarily complex process existing software that has many ad hoc methodologies components, allows both but no significant modeling military and industrial solutions. Very few rules or protocols users to develop large scale have been agreed on for analyzing applications without large and modeling complex, large-scale, scale software agent systems that interact with development efforts. distributed heterogeneous information systems. As a result, In the next year, CoABS will focus As reported in PC Week, the World DARPA is investing in on transitioning those run-time Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has understanding the principles integration capabilities to the embraced DAML as a step toward underlying agent-based computing. military, particularly for command what Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of and control applications. Among The TASK programs goal is to the World Wide Web, calls the others, CoABS will be providing C2 extend the current scientific and semantic web. DARPA is working infrastructure in the Navys Continued on page 4 Data & Analysis Center for Software (DACS) 3 Agent Based Computing for Autonomous Intelligent Software Continued from page 3 mathematical foundations of agent- DARPA, and run in cooperation Foundation Fellowship, is a member based computing and to add with the services and other DOD of the US Air Force Science precision to the engineering of agent- agencies. These programs provide Advisory Board, and is a Fellow of based systems. TASK researchers funding to over fifty universities, the American Association for will explore the application of companies, and research institutes Artificial Intelligence. mathematics not traditionally used who are cooperating in developing Ms. Laura Douglass is currently at for computer modeling, such as both underlying science and Schafer Corporation, where she statistical physics and chaotic implemented technology for provides technical and analytical dynamics, to explore the modeling of developing and fielding agent based support to the Agent Based multi-agent systems. systems for the Department of Computing program at DARPA. Defense. Previously, she was the Special Biographies Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Dr. James Hendler is currently Technology, and spent several years working at the Defense Advanced providing program management Research Projects Agency (DARPA) support to the Office of Naval as a Program Manager in the Research while on contract from the Information Technology Office. Pennsylvania State Universitys Dr. Hendler is on a leave of absence Applied Research Laboratory. from the University of Maryland Contact Information TASK researchers will demonstrate where he continues to retain his their algorithms and approaches status as a professor and head of Dr. James Hendler against a set of research exploration both the Autonomous Mobile Program Manager frameworks chosen to be of great Robotics Laboratory and the DARPA / ITO relevance to a very wide range of Advanced Information Technology 3701 Fairfax Drive DOD problems. Specific focus will Laboratory. He has joint Arlington, VA 22203-1714 be placed on dynamic command and appointments in the Department of E-mail: [email protected] control problems, the fundamentals Computer Science, the Institute for Phone: 703-696-2238 of cooperative systems, and Advanced Computer Studies and the Fax: 703-696-2203 understanding information-agent Institute for Systems Research, and behavior. In this way, new he is also an affiliate of the Electrical Laura Douglass techniques for resource assignment Engineering