Home // International Journal On Advances in Systems and Measurements, volume 6, numbers 1 and 2, 2013 // View article

RobustMAS: Measuring Robustness in Hybrid Central/Self-Organising Multi-Agent Systems

Authors:
Yaser Chaaban
Christian Müller-Schloer
Jörg Hähner

Keywords: Robustness; Organic Computing; Hybrid Coordination; Multi-Agent Systems; Performance measurement systems

Abstract:
It is noteworthy that the definition of system robustness varies according to the context in which the system is used. Therefore, manifold meanings of system robustness were introduced in literature. Additionally, various formal measures and metrics were presented to achieve the system robustness. In previous papers, we proposed a new concept to keep a multi-agent system at a desired performance level when deviations from planned (desired) behaviour occur in the system (robustness). This concept introduces a robust hybrid central/self-organising multi-agent system. The scenario used in this work is a traffic intersection without traffic lights. In this paper, we analyse two previous quantitative approaches presented, among others, in the literature towards a generalised robustness metric. Furthermore, we extend our prototype implementation with the aim of making it capable of handling disturbances (accidents) occur in the system environment (intersection) aiming to completely realise our vision. Simultaneously, we develop an appropriate metric for the quantitative determination of the robustness. The experimental results demonstrated a high degree of the robustness of the developed concept against disturbances.

Pages: 166 to 177

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2013. Used with permission.

Publication date: June 30, 2013

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-261x