Distributed algorithm for task allocation in multi-agent system based on contract net
WU Tie-jun · Journal of Zhejiang University(Engineering Science) · 2001
Coordination and cooperation are two major concerns in multi-agent system (MAS). How can a set of tasks be allocated properly to a group of agents is the key problem for coordination and cooperation. This was dons as. First, the concept of task coalition was defined and the task allocation was transformed into a set-covering problem, Second, the MAS was assumedts conformed to the contract net protocol, a heuristic algorithm for task allocation was proposed based on set-covering theory. Third, the convergence and supremum of the algorithm were proved, and the asymptotic time complexity was analyzed; At last, a simple example was given. With the property of the distributed calculation and quick reduction of the search space, the algorithm is suitable for task distributed problem solving for small and middle scale multi-agent system.