Abstract

Agent technology has been a promising new paradigm for the last 10 years. However, the role of agents in the implemented systems can vary considerably. It ranges from a type of expert system module to sensors in a sensor network. In this paper we will classify all these different agent systems in a few types based on the relations of the agents with their environment. We will show that each of these types of agent systems naturally requires its own type of methodologies and platforms. The classification shows some important areas for further developing methodologies and also gives some handles on how to choose the appropriate type of agent system to be designed for an application.

Citations