Undergraduate Course: Agent Based Systems (Level 10) (INFR10049)
Course Outline
| School | School of Informatics |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Informatics |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/abs/ |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Agent technology has emerged as a new area within Artificial Intelligence in the last two decades, exploring systems in which it is assumed that the computational components are autonomous, and interact with each other in a common environment. The aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive introduction to agents and multiagent systems. It covers a broad range of topics including agent architectures, agent interaction and communication, and game-theoretic methods and models of distributed rational decision making. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Informatics 2D - Reasoning and Agents (INFR08010) OR
Informatics Research Review (INFR11034)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
Agent Based Systems (Level 9) (INFR09036)
|
Other requirements | Informatics 2D or equivalent background for MSc Students. Logic Programming is strongly recommended.
Successful completion of Year 3 of an Informatics Single or Combined Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. Students must also have a basic knowledge of probability theory and a good command of propositional and first-order logic. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
- Describe and discuss different architectures for intelligent agents and interaction mechanisms for cooperative and competitive settings.
- Use abstract formal models of agents and agent interactions to analyse the properties of concrete designs.
- Explain the algorithmic and theoretical foundations of agents and multiagent systems, with an emphasis on knowledge-based and game-theoretic techniques.
- Be able to model, analyse and critically evaluate distributed systems using agent-based abstractions and related concepts.
- Design and implement agent-based systems using modern implementation platforms and agent programming languages.
- Design and conduct empirical experiments and evaluate the performance of implemented agent-based systems. |
Assessment Information
Written Examination: 75%
Assessed Assignments: 25%
Oral Presentations: 0%
Assessment:
Two programming exercises. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
1. Basics
- Definitions of agency
- Properties of agents
2. Agent architectures
- Deductive reasoning agents
- Practical reasoning
- Reactive and hybrid agents
3. Agent interaction
- Agent communication
- Game-theoretic models of interaction
4. Distributed rational decision making
- Social choice and voting
- Coalition formation
- Resource allocation
- Bargaining
- Argumentation
5. Logics for multiagent systems |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
- M. Wooldridge. An Introduction to MultiAgent Systems, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2009
- Y. Shoham and K. Leyton-Brown. Multiagent Systems: Algorithmic, Game Theoretic and Logical Foundations, Cambridge University Press, 2009. |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Lectures 20
Tutorials 0
Timetabled Laboratories 0
Non-timetabled Assessed Assignments 25
Private Study/Other 47
Total 100 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Mary Cryan
Tel: (0131 6)50 5153
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Victoria Swann
Tel: (0131 6)51 7607
Email: |
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