Actual trends in software development are pushing the need to face a multiplicity of diverse activities and interaction styles characterizing complex and distributed application domains, in such a way that the resulting dynamics exhibits some grade of order, i.e. in terms of evolution of the system and desired equilibrium. Autonomous agents and Multiagent Systems are argued in literature as one of the most immediate approaches for describing such a kind of challenges. Actually, agent research seems to converge towards the definition of renewed abstraction tools aimed at better capturing the new demands of open systems. Besides agents, which are assumed as autonomous entities purposing a series of design objectives, Multiagent Systems account new notions as first-class entities, aimed, above all, at modeling institutional/organizational entities, placed for normative regulation, interaction and teamwork management, as well as environmental entities, placed as resources to further support and regulate agent work. The starting point of this thesis is recognizing that both organizations and en- vironments can be rooted in a unifying perspective. Whereas recent research in agent systems seems to account a set of diverse approaches to specifically face with at least one aspect within the above mentioned, this work aims at proposing a unifying approach where both agents and their organizations can be straightforwardly situated in properly designed working environments. In this line, this work pursues reconciliation of environments with sociality, social interaction with environment based interaction, environmental resources with organizational func- tionalities with the aim to smoothly integrate the various aspects of complex and situated organizations in a coherent programming approach. Rooted in Agents and Artifacts (A&A) meta-model, which has been recently introduced both in the context of agent oriented software engineering and programming, the thesis pro- motes the notion of Embodied Organizations, characterized by computational infrastructures attaining a seamless integration between agents, organizations and environmental entities.

1. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures Designing and Programming
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Organizational Infrastructures for Agents
Environments
Piunti, M.
situated in Artifact-based Environments
European PhD
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
approach to Michele Piunti
MAS michele.piunti@unibo.it
Programming
Embodied
Organizations A LMA M ATER S TUDIORUM
Implementation Università di Bologna – DEIS
Conclusions
Bologna
April 30th , 2010
1 / 56

2. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
European PhD
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Co-Tutor
Environments
Tutor
• prof. Alessandro Ricci
Piunti, M.
• prof. Antonio Natali
• prof. Andrea Omicini
Introduction
Objectives Reviewers
A unifying
approach to • Mehdi Dastani (Utrecht University - Utrecht, Netherlands)
MAS
Programming • Juan Antonio Rodriguez Aguilar (AI Research Institute - Barcelona,
Embodied Spain)
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions Collaborations
• Istituto Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione - I.S.T.C. - C.N.R.,
Roma.
• G2I Group - Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, St-Etienne -
France.
2 / 56

3. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
3 / 56

4. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Introduction
for Agents
situated in Challenges of current IT systems:
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Open Systems
Introduction
• Heterogeneous entities interacting at runtime;
Objectives • Entering and leaving the system directed by different
A unifying interests/objectives.
approach to
MAS Complex Systems
Programming
Embodied • Complex structure, multiple functionalities;
Organizations
Implementation
• Global dynamics derive from local ones.
Conclusions Taking an Organizational Perspective
• Human organizations as a suitable model to build computational
systems
• Multi-Agent Organizations [Ferber et al., 2003, Gasser, 2001,
Boissier et al., 2006, Dignum, 2009, Coutinho et al., 2009].
4 / 56

5. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Multi Agent Systems (MAS)
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Agent
Piunti, M.
“An agent is a computer system that is situated in some environment
Introduction and that is capable of autonomous action in this environment in order
Objectives
to meet its design objective.” [Wooldridge and Jennings, 1995]
A unifying Organizations
approach to
MAS
Programming
“...can be understood as complex entities where a multitude of agents
interact, within a structured environment aiming at some global
Embodied purpose.” [Dignum, 2009]
Organizations
Implementation Environments
Conclusions First class abstraction containing those resources not modellable as
agents [Weyns et al., 2007]
5 / 56

6. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Multi Agent Systems (MAS)
for Agents
situated in Agent
Artifact-based
Environments “An agent is a computer system that is situated in some environment
and that is capable of autonomous action in this environment in order
Piunti, M.
to meet its design objective.” [Wooldridge and Jennings, 1995]
Introduction Organizations
Objectives
“...can be understood as complex entities where a multitude of agents
A unifying interact, within a structured environment aiming at some global
approach to
MAS
purpose.” [Dignum, 2009]
Programming
Environments
Embodied
Organizations First class abstraction containing those resources not modellable as
agents [Weyns et al., 2007]
Implementation
INTERNAL
Conclusions BELIEFS EVENTS ROLES
GOALS
PLANS MISSIONS
DUTIES
ACTIONS
?
DEONTIC RELATIONS
PERCEPTIONS NORMS
SANCTIONS/REWARDS
AGENTS ORGANIZATIONS
RESOURCES
LEGACY
SERVICES COMPONENTS
ENVIRONMENTS
6 / 56

7. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
MAS Programming
for Agents
situated in Agent Programming
Artifact-based
Environments Jason [Bordini et al., 2007], Jadex [Pokahr et al., 2005], 2APL [Dastani, 2008], etc.
Piunti, M.
Introduction
Organization Programming: platforms and approaches
Objectives
A unifying
AGR/M AD K IT [Ferber et al., 2003], PowerJade [Baldoni et al., 2008], Electronic
approach to Institutions [Esteva et al., 2004], S-M OISE + [Hübner et al., 2005], O PERA
MAS
Programming [Dignum, 2003], etc.
Embodied
Organizations
Environment Programming
Implementation
MASQ, AGRE [Stratulat et al., 2009, Báez-Barranco et al., 2006], Normative
Conclusions
Objects [Okuyama et al., 2009], Situated Electronic Institutions
[Campos et al., 2008], etc.
A seamless integration of entities and mechanisms is still
needed
7 / 56

8. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
for Agents
situated in 1 Introduction
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
2 Objectives
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
4 Embodied Organizations
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions 5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
8 / 56

9. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
9 / 56

10. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Objectives
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. To embody organizations within the agents’
Introduction
environment
Objectives • To provide unifying approach to MAS programming
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
10 / 56

11. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Objectives
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. To embody organizations within the agents’
Introduction
environment
Objectives • To provide unifying approach to MAS programming
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Several outcomes at an application level:
Organizations
• To reconcile agents and their work environments with institutional
Implementation dimensions (i.e. organizations);
Conclusions
• To exploit a strong notion of agency, i.e., mental attitudes
(purposes, knowledge), events, perception
• Interoperability and Openess
11 / 56

12. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Chosen Approach
for Agents
situated in In human organizations infrastruc- Environment
Artifact-based Infrastructures
Environments tures are explicitely conceived for Artifacts
Piunti, M. easing complex activities/tasks.
Introduction Cross disciplinary approach:
Objectives • Intelligent use of Space
[Kirsh, 1995]
A unifying
approach to • Theory of Social Actions
MAS [Castelfranchi, 1998]
Programming Patient
Agents
Embodied Environments are instrumented with Staff Agents
Organizations
specific Infrastructures Staff Agent
Implementation Visitor
Conclusions Aiding purposes, easing agent works Agents
To provide a set of coherent Infrastructures instrumenting environments
for implementing Organizations and Environments
[Piunti et al., 2009a, Piunti et al., 2009b]
12 / 56

13. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
13 / 56

14. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Unifying approach to MAS
for Agents
situated in Programming
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction
A-E
AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming A-O O-E
Embodied
Organizations
ORGANIZATION
Implementation
Conclusions
14 / 56

15. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Unifying approach to MAS
for Agents
situated in Programming
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction
A-E
AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming A-O O-E
Embodied
Organizations
ORGANIZATION
Implementation
Conclusions
15 / 56

16. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Environment Programming
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. A&A meta-model for MAS [Omicini et al., 2008] :
Introduction
Agents Autonomous and
Objectives
self-interested entities
A unifying
approach to encapsulating their
MAS control.
Programming
Artifacts Non-autonomous Artifacts
Embodied
Organizations entities.
Implementation
Workspaces Virtual containers of Agents
Conclusions agents and artifacts,
defining the topology Hospital
workspace
and the properties of
the environment.
16 / 56

17. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Artifact Metamodel
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments OBSERVABLE
update Observable EVENTS
GENERATION
Property OBSERVABLE
Piunti, M. name
<EvName,Params>
ObsPropName Value PROPERTIES
value
ObsPropName Value
Manual
Introduction 1 functions ... ...
operating
instructions
Objectives OPERATION X
Usage Interface OpControlName(Params)
1 1 Usage Control
A unifying Artifact
Interface USAGE OpControlName(Params)
name
approach to params INTERFACE OPERATION Y
...
MAS trigger
Programming control
Operation
generate Observable
Embodied Event ARTIFACT
Organizations LINK
MANUAL
INTERFACE
Implementation
Conclusions
Usage Interface and Observable Properties
• Basic building block for decentralized MAS environments
• “Object” at an agent level of abstraction
17 / 56

18. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Model for A-E Interactions
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. A-E
AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
A-O O-E
approach to
MAS
Programming
ORGANIZATION
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
Actions and Perceptions
• Native capabilities of agents;
• Addressed at artifacts (and workspaces) functionalities
18 / 56

19. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Agent-Artifact Interaction
for Agents
situated in Metamodel
Artifact-based
Environments
update Observable perceive
Piunti, M. Property observe
name
value
Manual
Introduction 1 functions
consult
operating
Objectives instructions
Usage Interface
A unifying Work 1 1 Usage Control use
Artifact Agent
Environment Interface name
approach to params
MAS trigger
Programming control
Operation
Embodied generate Observable perceive
Event
Organizations
Implementation join
Workspace quit
Conclusions
Pragmatic and Epistemic Actions
• Agent-Environment (A-E) interactions are based on the notion of:
Usage and Perception [Piunti and Ricci, 2008]
19 / 56

20. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
CArtAgO Infrastructure
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
makeArtifact
Environments
payments
Piunti, M. focus
pay
use
Introduction
BillingMachine
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS Hospital Workspace
Programming
Agent
Embodied + Bridge
Platform(s) (i.e. c4Jason,
CArtAgO node
Organizations c4Jadex)
Implementation
Conclusions Orthogonality Improved repertoire of agent’s actions:
• .joinWorkspace
• Heterogeneous agents (Jason, • .makeArtifact
Jadex) work in artifact based • .lookupArtifacts
environments;
• . ...
• .use
• Integration technologies (bridges) • .observeProperty
[Piunti et al., 2008, Ricci et al., 2009]. • .focus
20 / 56

21. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Environment Management
for Agents
situated in Infrastructures
Artifact-based
Environments
Hospital Scenario
Piunti, M.
Introduction
Objectives Artifacts are viewed as a set of re-
A unifying
sources exploitable by agents STAFF
approach to • Goal Oriented Interaction
MAS
Programming • Externalisation STAFF visits
sendBill
signDoc
Embodied • Coordination sendFee
Terminal
signPat
Organizations SurgeryTablet
EMI
Implementation ENVIRONMENT
ARTIFACTS
For instance in Jason: payments
reservations
VISITOR
Conclusions pay
bookVisit
+!execute_pay VISITOR BillingMachine Desk
: artifact_id(billing, BmId) Hospital
Workspace
& payment(Params)
Agent
<- cartago.use(BmId, pay(Params), Platforms
Receipt).
21 / 56

22. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Organization Programming
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction
A-E
Objectives AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming A-O O-E
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation ORGANIZATION
Conclusions
22 / 56

23. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
M OISE Model
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction Organization is specified by defining a set of dimensions
Objectives [Hübner et al., 2007]1 :
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming Structural Roles, Groups, Relationships
Embodied
Organizations Functional Goals, Missions, deadlines (time-to-fulfill)
Implementation Deontic Norms, Obligations
Conclusions
1 For the adoption of M OISE we would thank the G2I group at Ecole des Mines, St-Etienne.
23 / 56

24. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: Structural
for Agents
situated in dimension
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Visitor Staff
Introduction
0..1
Objectives Escort Patient Doctor
0..1 1..1 1..1
A unifying
approach to
Visit Staff
MAS Group Group
Programming 0..NVMAX Surgery Room 1..1
Group
Embodied
Organizations LEGEND
LINKS INTRA-GROUP EXTRA-GROUP
Implementation inheritance
min..max acquaintance
composition
Conclusions communication
ROLE
authority
GROUP
ABS compatibility
ROLE
(a) Structural Specification in Moise in the Hospital Scenario
24 / 56

25. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: Functional
for Agents
situated in dimension
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. visitorSch monitorSch
Introduction visitor monitor
scheme scheme
Objectives
A unifying mVisit mVisit visit mStaff
mVisit enforcement
approach to enter book observe
exit
MAS the room the visit
[5 minutes]
Programming mPatient mPay
do the pay mRew mSan
Embodied visit visit send send
[30 minutes] [30 minutes] bill fee
Organizations [1 day] [1 day]
Implementation
docSch
mDoc
LEGEND
Conclusions Doctor
mDoc scheme
missions
visit
goal
patient
[TTF] sequence choice parallelism
[30 minutes]
(b) Functional Specification in Moise
25 / 56

26. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: Deontic
for Agents
situated in dimension
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation
(c) Deontic Specification in Moise
Conclusions
Controlling agent’s autonomy with Norms
• Organization prescribes a set of norms (obligations, prohibitions
permissions);
• Agents may decide to violate norms;
• Once a norm is violated the organization configuration has to be
updated
26 / 56

27. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Organization Management
for Agents
situated in Infrastructures
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. • ORA4MAS [Hübner et al., 2009] OMI is composed by a set of
artifacts providing agents with organizational functions;
Introduction
• Artifact initialized with the M OISE specification
Objectives
A unifying
• Define also A-O
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied Norm violations are relevant ESCORT
Organizations
Implementation
events stored as artifact events
GroupBoards
Conclusions OMI
ORGANISATIONAL
ARTIFACTS
For instance in Jason:
+!commit_mission(M) VISITOR SchemeBoards
: artifact_id(sch, SchId) Hospital
VISITOR
<- cartago.use(SchId, Workspace
commitMission(M)).
Agent
Platforms
27 / 56

28. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
28 / 56

29. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Embodied Organizations
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based A-E
Environments AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
Piunti, M.
A-O O-E
Introduction
Objectives ORGANIZATION
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
29 / 56

30. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Embodied Organizations
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based A-E
Environments AGENT(S) ENVIRONMENT
Piunti, M.
A-O O-E
Introduction
Objectives ORGANIZATION
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
EMI
Organizations ENVIRONMENT
Implementation
STAFF
ARTIFACTS
STAFF
E-O Integration
Terminal
Conclusions GroupBoards SurgeryTablet • To transer events and changes
OMI
ORGANISATIONAL
ARTIFACTS
occurring inside environment to
SchemeBoards
the organization
VISITOR
BillingMachine
Desk
• and the other way
Hospital VISITOR
Workspace
Agent
Platforms
30 / 56

31. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Constitutive Rules
for Agents
situated in Constitutive Rules [Searle, 1964]
Artifact-based
Environments
• Typical of human societies (Social Reality [Searle, 1997] )
Piunti, M.
• The reification of a state in a particular context may constitute the
Introduction realization of a particular institutional/organizational fact
Objectives
count-as
A unifying
approach to
MAS Environment count-as Organisation
Programming Management Management
Infrastructure Infrastructure
Embodied
Agents
Organizations
enact
Implementation
Conclusions
• Used to automate particular dynamics between E-O:
31 / 56

32. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Constitutive Rules
for Agents
situated in Constitutive Rules [Searle, 1964]
Artifact-based
Environments
• Typical of human societies (Social Reality [Searle, 1997] )
Piunti, M.
• The reification of a state in a particular context may constitute the
Introduction realization of a particular institutional/organizational fact
Objectives
count-as
A unifying
approach to
MAS Environment count-as Organisation
Programming Management Management
Infrastructure Infrastructure
Embodied
Agents
Organizations
enact
Implementation
Conclusions
• Used to automate particular dynamics between E-O:
• “Entering an ambulatory room count-as adopting the role
patient”
• “Finalizing the payment operation on the billing machine
count-as achieving the goal pay”
• “A sold out in the visit schedule enact the suspension of the
booking service”
32 / 56

33. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Embodied Organization
for Agents
situated in Metamodel
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
O-E functional relationships defined by Constitutive Rules
Introduction based on Events:
Objectives
A unifying Environment
Event Event
approach to
MAS Ev Type
Ev Value Organization
Programming Event
Embodied Triggers
Organizations
Constitutive 1..n
Implementation Rule
Embodied
Organization
(Emb-Org-Rule) Produces
Conclusions
Count-as Enact
Rule Rule
33 / 56

34. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
34 / 56

35. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Formal Model
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Implementing Emb-Org-Rules implies to re-engineer
Environments CArtAgO by indruducing:
Piunti, M.
Workspace Events
Introduction
Workspace rules
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS MAS = Ws
Programming
Ws = { wsn , Ag, Ar , Art, Ev , M, R, t }
Embodied
Organizations Ag = { agid , ags , agEv , agpr }
Implementation Ar = { arid , art , I, O, P, V }
Conclusions
Table: Structures inside a MAS (implemented by CArtAgO)
Formal model described by a transition system in the thesis
35 / 56

36. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Workspace Events
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments Ws = Ag, Ar , Art, Ev, M, R, t
Piunti, M.
Introduction CArtAgO
Workspace Events
Objectives Are records of significant changes in the
A unifying application domain (i.e., state/processes).
approach to
MAS 1 Can be perceived by agents focusing
Programming
artifacts
Embodied Workspace Kernel
Organizations WORKSPACE 2 Can be collected and ranked at the
EVENTS ( Ev ) R Art M
Implementation workspace level
Conclusions
ev = evt , evv
Event pairs (type, value) from Observable Properties and from Operations
Execution
36 / 56

37. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Workspace Rules
for Agents
situated in
Ws = Ag, Ar , Art, Ev , M, R, t
Artifact-based CArtAgO
Workspace
Environments Legend
AGENT
Piunti, M.
Needed to specify rules governing
ARTIFACT
Introduction intra-workspace dynamics OBSERVABLE PROPERTY
OPERATION
LINK OPERATION
Objectives
ACTION
PERCEPTION
A unifying
approach to Workspace as a WORKSPACE
LAWS ( R ) Ev
Workspace Kernel
Art M
LINK
WS OPERATOR
MAS
Programming programmable entity
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules:
“when ev in the context c apply a”
Conclusions
• +ev : c → a
• ev ∈ Ev
• c refers to observable states
∈ Ar
• a refers to a set of workspace
operators
37 / 56

38. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Workspace Rules
for Agents
situated in
Ws = Ag, Ar , Art, Ev , M, R, t
Artifact-based CArtAgO
Workspace
Environments Legend
AGENT
Piunti, M.
Needed to specify rules governing
ARTIFACT
Introduction intra-workspace dynamics OBSERVABLE PROPERTY
OPERATION
LINK OPERATION
Objectives
ACTION
PERCEPTION
A unifying
approach to Workspace as a WORKSPACE
LAWS ( R ) Ev
Workspace Kernel
Art M
LINK
WS OPERATOR
MAS
Programming programmable entity
Embodied
Organizations
Basic Workspace Operators:
Implementation Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules:
“when ev in the context c apply a” (1) applyOp(arid , opname [, Params])
Conclusions
• +ev : c → a (2) applyLop(arid , opname [, Params])
(3) make(arid , artn [, Params])
• ev ∈ Ev (4) dispose(arid )
• c refers to observable states (5) disable(arid [, agid ] {, opname })
∈ Ar (6) enable(arid [, agid ] {, opname })
• a refers to a set of workspace (7) exclude(agid )
operators (8) include(agid )
38 / 56

39. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: EMI
for Agents
situated in visitorSch monitorSch
Artifact-based visitor monitor
Environments scheme scheme
Piunti, M.
mVisit mVisit visit mStaff
mVisit enforcement
enter book observe
Introduction the room the visit
exit
Objectives mPatient mPay
do the pay mRew mSan
visit visit send send
A unifying bill fee
approach to
joinWorkspace use use focus
MAS Hospital Desk BillingMachine Desk,
Programming bookVisit pay BillingMachine
use use use
quitWorkspace
Embodied SurgeryTablet Terminal Terminal
Hospital
signPat sendBill sendFee
Organizations docSch
Doctor
Implementation scheme
Hospital visits
reservations
Workspace signDoc
Conclusions bookVisit signPat
mDoc
visit
Desk SurgeryTablet
patient
payments
sendBill
pay sendFee
use
SurgeryTablet ENVIRONMENT
signDoc MANAGEMENT BillingMachine Terminal
INFRASTRUCTURE
39 / 56

40. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: Count-as
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments Count-As Rules
Piunti, M. An event occurring in the system may “count-as” an institutional event
and automatically update the organization
Introduction
Objectives
+join_req(Ag)
A unifying +ws_leaved(Ag)
-> make("visitorGroupBoard",
approach to -> apply("visitorGroupBoard",
"OMI.GroupBoard",
MAS leaveRole(Ag, "patient")).
["moise/hospital.xml","visitGroup"]);
Programming make("visitorSchBoard",
+op_completed("BillingMachine",
"OMI.SchemeBoard",
Embodied Ag, pay)
["moise/hospital.xml","visitorSch"]);
Organizations -> apply("visitorSchBoard",
apply("visitorGroupBoard",
setGoalAchieved(Ag, pay_visit)).
Implementation adoptRole(Ag, "patient"));
include(Ag).
Conclusions +op_completed("Terminal",
+op_completed("visitorGroupBoard", _,
Ag, sendFee)
adoptRole(Ag, "patient"))
-> apply("monitorSchBoard",
-> apply("visitorSchBoard",
setGoalAchieved(Ag, send_fee)).
commitMission(Ag, "mPat")).
Figure: Example of count-as rules in the Hospital scenario.
40 / 56

41. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Hospital Scenario: Enact
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Enact Rules
Introduction Organization may produce a control by enacting changes upon the
Objectives environment (i.e., to promote equilibrium, avoid undesiderable states).
A unifying
approach to
MAS +signal("monitorSchBoard",
Programming goal_non_compliance,
+signal("visitorGroupBoard", obligation(Ag,
Embodied role_cardinality, visitor) ngoa(monitorSch,mRew,send_bill),
Organizations : true achieved(monitorSch,send_bill,Ag),
-> disable("Desk", bookVisit). TTF)
Implementation : true
-> exclude(Ag).
Conclusions
Figure: Example of enact rules in the hospital scenario.
41 / 56

42. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Outline
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M. 1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
2 Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS 3 A unifying approach to MAS Programming
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
4 Embodied Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
5 Implementation
6 Conclusions
42 / 56

43. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Conclusions
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments An unifying approach to MAS programming
Piunti, M.
• Embodied Organization;
Introduction • No need for agents to bring about organizational notions;
Objectives
• Environment infrastructures succeed to mediate between agents
A unifying
approach to
and organizations;
MAS
Programming • Global dynamics shaped on workspace events and transparently
Embodied
handled by the system.
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
43 / 56

44. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Conclusions
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments An unifying approach to MAS programming
Piunti, M.
• Embodied Organization;
Introduction • No need for agents to bring about organizational notions;
Objectives
• Environment infrastructures succeed to mediate between agents
A unifying
approach to
and organizations;
MAS
Programming • Global dynamics shaped on workspace events and transparently
Embodied
handled by the system.
Organizations
Implementation Limitations and Aspects we do not address (yet):
Conclusions
• Direct communication between agents (Agent-Agent interaction)
through message passing (i.e. ACL) is not currently under the
control of the organization.
• Complex interaction patterns may result in many relationship to be
specified between E-O.
44 / 56

45. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Perspectives
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments Ongoing and Furure Work:
Piunti, M.
• To generalize the mechanism of Workspace Laws and Embodied
Introduction Organization Rules defining a wide set of inter-system functional
Objectives relations (i.e. access control, security);
A unifying
approach to
• To provide a general framweork for integrated MAS development
MAS
Programming
Embodied Applications in future ICT:
Organizations
Implementation • Any scenario integrating artificial agents, devices, humans in the
Conclusions same application
• Future Internet, Cloud Computing
• Sociotechnical systems, pervasive computing
• Virtualization, Electronic Marketplaces, etc.
45 / 56

46. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography I
for Agents
situated in Báez-Barranco, J.-A., Stratulat, T., and Ferber, J. (2006).
Artifact-based
Environments A unified model for physical and social environments.
In Environments for Multi-Agent Systems III, Third International Workshop
Piunti, M.
(E4MAS 2006), volume 4389 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages
41–50. Springer.
Introduction
Objectives Baldoni, M., Genovese, V., and van der Torre, L. (2008).
Adding Organizations and Roles as primitives to the JADE framework.
A unifying
approach to In Proc. of the 3rd International Workshop on Normative MAS.
MAS
Programming Boissier, O., Hübner, J. F., and Sichman, J. S. (2006).
Organization Oriented Programming: From Closed to Open Organizations.
Embodied
Organizations In Engineering Societies for Agent Worlds (ESAW-2006). Extended and
Revised version in Lecture Notes in Computer Science LNCS series,
Implementation
Springer, pages 86–105.
Conclusions
Bordini, R. H., Hübner, J. F., and Wooldrige, M. (2007).
Programming Multi-Agent Systems in AgentSpeak using Jason.
Wiley Series in Agent Technology. John Wiley & Sons.
Campos, J., Lòopez-Sànchez, M., Rodrìguez-Aguilar, J. A., and Esteva, M.
(2008).
Formalising Situatedness and Adaptation in Electronic Institutions.
In COIN-08, Proc.
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47. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography II
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based Castelfranchi, C. (1998).
Environments
Modeling Social Action for AI Agents.
Piunti, M. Artificial Intelligence, 103:157–182.
Introduction Coutinho, L. R., Sichman, J. S., and Boissier, O. (2009).
Modeliling dimensions for agent organizations.
Objectives
In Dignum, V., editor, Handbook of Research on Multi-Agent Systems:
A unifying Semantics and Dynamics of Organizational Models. IGI-Global.
approach to
MAS Dastani, M. (2008).
Programming
2APL: a practical agent programming language.
Embodied Autonomous Agent and Multi-Agent Systems, 16:214–248.
Organizations
Implementation Dastani, M., Grossi, D., Meyer, J.-J. C., and Tinnemeier, N. A. M. (2008).
Normative Multi-Agent Programs and Their Logics.
Conclusions
In Knowledge Representation for Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, First
International Workshop, KRAMAS 2008, Sydney, Australia, Revised Selected
Papers, volume 5605 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer.
Dignum, M. V. F. d. A. J. G. (2003).
A model for organizational interaction: based on agents, founded in logic.
PhD thesis, Utrecht University, SIKS dissertation series 2004-1.
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48. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography III
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based Dignum, V., editor (2009).
Environments
Handbook of Research on Multi-Agent Systems: Semantics and Dynamics
Piunti, M. of Organizational Models.
IGI-Global.
Introduction
Esteva, M., Rodríguez-Aguilar, J. A., Rosell, B., and L., J. (2004).
Objectives AMELI: An agent-based middleware for electronic institutions.
A unifying In Jennings, N. R., Sierra, C., Sonenberg, L., and Tambe, M., editors,
approach to Proceedings of International conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi
MAS
Programming Agent Systems (AAMAS’04), pages 236–243, New York. ACM.
Embodied Ferber, J., Gutknecht, O., and Michel, F. (2003).
Organizations From Agents to Organizations: An Organizational View of Multi-agent
Implementation Systems.
Conclusions
In Proceedings of (AOSE-03), volume 2935 of Lecture Notes Computer
Science (LNCS). Springer.
Gasser, L. (2001).
Perspectives on Organizations in Multi-agent Systems.
In Multi-Agent Systems and Applications, volume Vol. 2086 of Lecture Notes
in Computer Science, pages 1–16. Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New
York, NY, USA.
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49. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography IV
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based Hübner, J. F., Boissier, O., Kitio, R., and Ricci, A. (2009).
Environments
Instrumenting Multi-Agent Organisations with Organisational Artifacts and
Piunti, M.
Agents.
Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.
Introduction
Objectives
Hübner, J. F., Sichman, J. S., and Boissier, O. (2005).
S-moise+ : A middleware for developing organised multi-agent systems.
A unifying
approach to In Boissier, O., Padget, J. A., Dignum, V., Lindemann, G., Matson, E. T.,
MAS Ossowski, S., Sichman, J. S., and Vázquez-Salceda, J., editors,
Programming Coordination, Organizations, Institutions, and Norms in Multi-Agent Systems,
Embodied AAMAS 2005 International Workshops, volume 3913 of Lecture Notes in
Organizations Computer Science, pages 64–78. Springer.
Implementation
Hübner, J. F., Sichman, J. S., and Boissier, O. (2007).
Conclusions Developing Organised Multi-Agent Systems Using the M OISE Model:
Programming Issues at the System and Agent Levels.
Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, 1(3/4):370–395.
Kirsh, D. (1995).
The intelligent use of space.
Artificial Intelligence, 73(1-2):31–68.
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50. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography V
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments Okuyama, F. Y., Bordini, R. H., and da Rocha Costa, A. C. (2009).
Piunti, M. A distributed normative infrastructure for situated multi-agent organisations.
In Declarative Agent Languages and Technologies VI, volume 5397 of
Introduction Lecture Notes Computer Science (LNCS). Springer.
Objectives Omicini, A., Ricci, A., and Viroli, M. (2008).
A unifying Artifacts in the A&A meta-model for multi-agent systems.
approach to Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 17 (3).
MAS
Programming Piunti, M. and Ricci, A. (2008).
Embodied From Agents to Artifacts Back and Forth: Purposive and Doxastic use of
Organizations Artifacts in MAS.
Implementation In Proceedings of Sixth European Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems
(EUMAS-08), Bath, UK.
Conclusions
Piunti, M., Ricci, A., Boissier, O., and Hübner, J. F. (2009a).
Embodied Organisations in MAS Environments.
In Braubach, L., van der Hoek, W., Petta, P., and Pokahr, A., editors, MATES,
volume 5774 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 115–127.
Springer.
50 / 56

51. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography VI
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Piunti, M., Ricci, A., Boissier, O., and Hübner, J. F. (2009b).
Environments Embodying Organisations in Multi-agent Work Environments.
Piunti, M.
In Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conference
on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT 2009), pages
Introduction
511–518, Milan, Italy. IEEE.
Objectives Piunti, M., Ricci, A., Braubach, L., and Pokahr, A. (2008).
A unifying
Goal-directed Interactions in Artifact-Based MAS: Jadex Agents playing in
approach to CArtAgO Environments.
MAS In IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conference on Web Intelligence and
Programming
Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT 2008), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Embodied
Organizations Pokahr, A., Braubach, L., and Lamersdorf, W. (2005).
Jadex: A BDI Reasoning Engine.
Implementation
In Bordini, R. H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., and Fallah-Seghrouchni, A. E., editors,
Conclusions Multi-Agent Programming, volume 15 of Multiagent Systems, Artificial
Societies, and Simulated Organizations, pages 149–174. Springer.
Ricci, A., Piunti, M., Viroli, M., and Omicini, A. (2009).
Environment programming in CArtAgO.
In Bordini, R. H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., and El Fallah-Seghrouchni, A., editors,
Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Platforms and Applications, Vol. 2,
pages 259–288. Springer.
51 / 56

52. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Bibliography VII
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments Searle, J. R. (1964).
Piunti, M. Speech Acts, chapter What is a Speech Act?
Cambridge University Press.
Introduction
Searle, J. R. (1997).
Objectives
The Construction of Social Reality.
A unifying Free Press.
approach to
MAS Stratulat, T., Ferber, J., and Tranier, J. (2009).
Programming MASQ: Towards an Integral Approach of Agent-Based Interaction.
Embodied In Proc. of 8th Conf. on Agents and Multi Agent Systems (AAMAS-09).
Organizations
Weyns, D., Omicini, A., and Odell, J. J. (2007).
Implementation
Environment as a first-class abstraction in multi-agent systems.
Conclusions Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 14(1):5–30.
Special Issue on Environments for Multi-agent Systems.
Wooldridge, M. and Jennings, N. R. (1995).
Intelligent agents: Theory and practice.
The Knowledge Engineering Review, 10(2):115–152.
52 / 56

53. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures Designing and Programming
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Organizational Infrastructures for Agents
Environments
Piunti, M.
situated in Artifact-based Environments
European PhD
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
approach to Michele Piunti
MAS michele.piunti@unibo.it
Programming
Embodied
Organizations A LMA M ATER S TUDIORUM
Implementation Università di Bologna – DEIS
Conclusions
Bologna
April 30th , 2010
53 / 56

54. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Situated Organizations
for Agents
situated in • MASQ, AGRE [Stratulat et al., 2009, Báez-Barranco et al., 2006]: integrate
Artifact-based different dimensions (agents, environment, interactions, organizations and
Environments institutions) into an integral view;
Piunti, M. • Distributed normative infrastructures: “normative places” and “normative
objects”, reactive entities inspectable by agents and containing readable
Introduction
information about norms [Okuyama et al., 2009].
Objectives
• Situated Electronic Institutions [Campos et al., 2008]: governor entities
A unifying allow to bridge environmental structures by instrumenting environments with
approach to
MAS
embodied devices controlled by the institutional apparatus.
Programming
• Constitutive rules [Searle, 1997] to bridge the gap between environment
Embodied
Organizations and institutional dimensions:
Implementation
• The reification of a particular state in a normative place may
constitute the realization of a particular institutional fact (e.g., “being
Conclusions on a car driver seat makes an agent to play the role driver”)
[Okuyama et al., 2009].
• “Normative artifact” as a container of institutional facts (facts related to
the institutional states), and brute facts (states related to the concrete
workplace where agents dwell) [Dastani et al., 2008]. “Count-as” and
“sanctioning” rules allows the infrastructure to recast brute facts to
institutional ones and provide normative control.
54 / 56

55. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Syntax of Workspace Rules
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based
Environments
Piunti, M.
Introduction
Objectives
A unifying
approach to
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
Implementation
Conclusions
55 / 56

56. Designing and
Programming
Organizational
Infrastructures
Regimentation and Enforcement
for Agents
situated in
Artifact-based Organisational
Regimentation done by Artifacts
Environments
EOA+OA
Piunti, M.
mechanisms
used by
Introduction Enforcement done by
detection
Objectives
evaluation
A unifying done by Staff
approach to done by Agent
judgement
MAS
Programming
Embodied
Organizations
• Regimentation is done by enabling and disabling
Implementation
operation controls (uic) on environment artifacts
Conclusions
(visitDoor)
• This enables or prevents the use of artifacts (CArtAgO
implements RBAC)
• Enforcement is done (by staff/organizational agents) by
using special artifacts (i.e. the terminal to send fines,
the phone to call police, etc.)
56 / 56