A distributed multi-agent tour planner system
Mohamed Yassin El-Refai, Adel Said Elmaghraby · 1998
The main contribution of this dissertation is to develop a software architecture for distributed agent applications using a specialized agent router ( AgentRouter), on which agent colonies can be built. This architecture also provides a systematic approach for interaction with agents from other agent communities using the knowledge query and manipulation language (KQML). A secondary contribution is to apply this inter-agent architecture for tour planning, thus demonstrating its effectiveness. The second contribution is accomplished by presenting a tour planner system. A Tour Planner System is defined as a set of distributed agents collaborating together to develop a customized guide for visiting a generic touring facility, as well a detailed route of the customized tour. The development of the customized guide and the route is based on the unique preferences of each user. A VRML model is also proposed to allow the user to practice on the tour in a virtual space. This system will allow customized guides to be developed through the WWW (World Wide Web) to any user, and allowing that user to practice on the museum's tour from his own machine at home. Agents involved in that system are distributed on a multi-platform network, thus distributing computation load and sharing resources between several machines, and reducing processing overhead.