Multi-Agent Frameworks for Space Applications

Abstract

In the recent years, there has been an increasing research into and experience with autonomy and automation of space missions, such as Earth observation, space station operations, planetary robotic exploration and deep space probes. Capabilities of such systems have grown radically, leading to the need of the development of autonomy for the spacecraft and ground systems. One of the possible solutions for the development of autonomous systems is the use of agent-based systems. Put at its simplest, an agent is a computer system that is capable of flexible autonomous action in dynamic, unpredictable, typically multi-agent domain, and that has autonomous characteristics, like autonomy, social ability, reactiviy and proactivity. From the software’s point of view, the design of computer programs as multi-agent systems presents a new software engineering paradigm where systems are described as individual problem-solving agents pursuing high-level goals. To support the development of multi-agent systems in other areas of application, many different multi-agent frameworks have been developed in the last decade. These multi-agent frameworks provide infrastructure functionalities allowing agents developers to concentrate on application-dependent issues. In this paper we analyze the results of the use of multiagent frameworks within the DAFA study. DAFA (Distributed Agents For Autonomy) is a study for the European Space Agency in which GMV, the University of Glasgow (UNG) and the Planning and Scheduling Team from the Institute for Cognitive Science and Technology of Italian National Research Council (ISTC-CNR) have collaborated. The project is aimed to demonstrate the advantages of using distributed agents in a space system. Its objectives can be summarized as follows: 1) demonstrate that agent technology, and in particular distributed agents, can be applied to increase mission performances, and 2) demonstrate a methodology to allow the assessment of the impact of the introduction of agents in a space system. This paper discusses the conclusions obtained as a result of this study.