Prometheus Research Directions
Prometheus is a well-established and widely used methodology. In this chapter, we briefly review the methodology and then discuss a number of active research directions. The key research directions that we discuss are: automated testing of agent systems,
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Prometheus Research Directions Lin Padgham, John Thangarajah, and Michael Winikoff
Abstract Prometheus is a well-established and widely used methodology. In this chapter, we briefly review the methodology and then discuss a number of active research directions. The key research directions that we discuss are: automated testing of agent systems, including test coverage; development of agent systems that are structured as teams, and of open agent systems that operate within Electronic Institutions; and the design and representation of agent interaction. We also briefly present the Prometheus Design Tool (PDT) and conclude with a brief look at other areas for future work. Keywords Agent-oriented software engineering • Prometheus • Teams and organizations • Testing
Interaction
design
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1 Introduction Prometheus is a well-established methodology for assisting and guiding developers in building agent-based applications. Its development started in the late 1990s as a result of collaboration between academics at RMIT University who were teaching students to develop agent programs and doing research in agent systems, and practitioners who were building and marketing agent development platforms and doing commercial work in building agent based applications. In the early 2000s, work was consolidated into the named methodology, a support tool (PDT) was developed, and in 2004 a book was published [19], which provided detailed
L. Padgham () • J. Thangarajah RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] M. Winikoff University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] O. Shehory and A. Sturm (eds.), Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-54432-3__8, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
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guidelines and a running example for agent system design. In 2005, PDT was demonstrated at AAMAS and won the award for best demonstration. Today Prometheus is used quite widely internationally, though primarily for teaching and research purposes with only relatively limited use within industry. Nevertheless, it is used by some industry practitioners, including some customers of Agent-Oriented Software, the producers of the JACKTM development platform, a widely used and comprehensive commercial agent development platform [24]. We now briefly outline the three phases that constitute the core of Prometheus, after which we mention a number of topics that are not part of the core of the methodology, but where we have done some work. The remainder of this chapter focuses on three areas where we have substantial recent or ongoing research relating to Prometheus: automated testing, representation of teams and organizations, and the design of agent interactions. We then discuss the Prometheus Design Tool, before concluding with a look to the future. A more comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in Agent-Oriented Software Engineering can be found in [27].
1.1 Prometheus Design Phases The core of the Prometheus
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