• MULTIAGENTS PLANNING

So far we have dealt with single-agent environment , in which

our agent is alone . When there are other agents in environment,
our agent could simply include them in its model of the
environment, without changing its basic algorithms . In many
cases , however, that would lead to poor performance because
dealing with other agents is not the same as dealing with nature.
in particular nature is (one assumes) indifferent to the agent’s
Intentions , whereas other agents are not .
 DOUBLE TENNIS PROBLEM
Agents(A,B)
Init (At ( A, [ Left , Baseline]) ^ At (B, [ Right , Net]) ^
Approaching (Ball, [Right, Baseline]))^ Partner( A, B ) A Partner( B, A )
Goal( Returned( Ball ) ^ At(Agent, [X, Net]))
Action( Hit ( agent, Ball).
PRECOND: Approaching(BALL,[X,Y] A At(agent,[X,Y]) A
Partner( agent , partner ) ^ # at (partner,[ X,Y ])
Effect :Returned (Ball))
Action( Go(agent, [X,Y]),
PRECOND: At( agent, [ a, b ]),
Effect: At( agent, [X,Y]) A # At(agent, [ a, b]))

The double tennis problem: Tow agents are playing together and can be in one of four
locations:
[Left, Baseline], [ Right, Baseline], [Left, Net], [Right, Net].
The ball can be returned if exactly one player is in the right place.
The multiagent environment can be :
• COOPERATIVE
• COMPETITIVE

We will begin with a simple cooperative example: team planning in doubles

tennis.
Plans can be constructed that specify action for both players on the team , we
will describe techniques for constructing such plans efficiently . Efficient plan
construction is useful ,but does not guarantee success ; the agent have to agree
to use the same
plane!
this required some form of COORDINATION.
• Cooperation: Joint goals and plans

Two agents playing on a doubles tennis team have the joint goal of winning the match.
Let’s suppose that at one point in the game , they have the joint goal of returning the
ball
That has been hit to them and ensuring that at least one of them covering the net.
We can represent this notation as a multiagent planning problem.
This notation introduces two new features .
First , agents(A,B) declares that there are two agents , A and B who are participating in
the plan (for this problem the opposing players are not considered agents)
Second, each action explicitly mentions the agent as a parameter ,because we need to
keep track of which agent does what .
A solution to a multiagent planning problem is a joint plan consisting of actions for
each agent. A joint plan is a solution if the goal will be achieved when each agent
performs its assigned actions.
A joint plan is a solution if the goal will be achieved when each agent performs
its assigned actions. The following plan is a solution to the tennis problem:

PLAN 1 A:[Go(A,[Right,Baseline]),Hit(A,Ball)]
B:[No Op(B), No Op(B)].
If both agents have the same knowledge base , and if this is the only

solution and then jointly execute it.

Unfortunately for the agents , there is another plan that satisfies the goal
just as well as the first:
PLAN 2 A[Go(A,[Left,Net]),NoOp(A)]
B[Go(B,[Right, Baseline]),Hit(B,Ball)]
If A chooses 2 and B chooses 1 ,then noboday will return the ball.and
conversely ,if A chooses 1 and B chooses 2, then probably collide with each
other, no one returns the ball and the net remain uncovered. Hence the
existence of correct joint plans does not mean that the goal will be achieved,
The agents need a mechanism for coordinating to reach the same joint plan.
MULTIBODY PLANNING : it is essentially the planning problem faced by a

single centralized agent that can dictate actions to

each of several physical entities.

SYNCHRONIZATION : For simplicity we will assume that each

action takes the same amount of time
and that actions at each point in the
joint plan are simultaneous.

CONCURRENT ACTION LIST : This is similar to the precondition of an action

description except that rather than describing
state variables , it describes actions that must
not be executed concurrently.
• Coordinating mechanisms

The simplest method by which a group of agents can ensure agreement on a joint plan is
to adopt a convention prior to engaging in joint activity.

A CONVENTION is any constraint on the selection of joint plans.

SOCIAL LAWS : some convention , such as driving on the proper side of the
road ,are so widely adopted that they are considered as
social laws.

communication : In the absence of an applicable convention, agents

can use communication to achieve common
knowledge of a feasible joint plan .
for example , a doubles tennis player could shout
“Mine!” or “Yours!” to indicate a preferred joint plan .
• Competition

Not all multiagent environments involve cooperative agents .

Agents with conflicting utility function are in competition
With each other ,one example of this is two-player zero-sum
games , such as chess.
We can see in a chess-playing agent needs to consider the opponent’s possible moves
for several steps into the future . that an agent in competitive
environment must :
a) recognize that there are other agents
b) compute how the other agent’s possible plans .
c) compute how the other agent’s plans interact with
its own plans.
d) decide on the best action in view of these interactions.
So competition , like cooperation ,requires a model of the other agent’s plans.
On the other hands , there is no commitment to a joint plan in a competitive
Environment.