Frameworks


Multi-agent architecture and framework that eases the development and the operation of large-scale, distributed applications and services.


Lightweight multi-agent architecture and framework that simplifies the development of applications for different kind of devices.

Tools


Intuitive and extensible monitor for controlling distributed multi-agent infrastructures at runtime.


Well-equipped BPMN editor, powerful multi-language transformation and workflow simulator.

ASGARD

asgard-logo_01Monitoring the runtime behaviour of a distributed agent system for debugging or demonstration purposes provides a challenge to agent system developers. As a lot of the components in such a system are possibly executed on several different physical systems, maintaining an overview over the complete environment is extremely difficult. Methods taken from the development of monolithic software projects such as log files, debug outputs or step-by-step execution of a program do not easily translate to these scenarios due to the distributed nature of the system. “ASGARD” (Advanced Structured Graphical Agent Realm Display) provides an easy-to-use and intuitively understandable method for monitoring and demonstrating JIAC-based Multi-Agent System Infrastructures. ASGARD provides a graphical representation of the connected systems using a 3D visualization. The very promising results from empirical evaluation show that an administrator’s overview over such MAS at runtime is vastly improved.

Features

screenshot_ASGARD_2.0

    • 3D visualization of the agent infrastructure
    • Live view of the agents and agent nodes on the distributed platform
    • Visualization of communications and migrations in the system
    • Plug-in interface for specialized functionalities, e.g. system load

Action Invoke Failure. The sender informs the receiver that the requested action failed to execute successfully

  • Manipulation of agent states
  • Drag & drop migration of agents
  • Secure communication channels with TLS and the JMX interface with an authentication

Visualization Overview

A short overview of various visualizations and their meanings in ASGARD.

Agent Node Visualizations

The color shade of Agent Nodes and Agents indicates if the owner name of an Agent Node / Agent is equal to the current user name on the system running ASGARD.

Undefined Agent

Action Invoke Failure. The sender informs the receiver that the requested action failed to execute successfully

Own Agent Node Own Agent Node (dark blue)
Foreign Agent Node Agent Node owned by somebody else
Agent Node secured with TLS Agent Node secured with TLS
Agent Node secured with JMX authentication Agent Node secured with JMX authentication
Agent Node secured with TLS and JMX authentication Agent Node secured with TLS and JMX authentication

Agent State Visualizations

The lifecycle state of JIAC agents is indicated by the color of the agent’s head. Furthermore, a written representation of the current state is shown in the object property table on the right.

Initialized Agent Agent in “Initialized” State.
Starting Agent Agent in “Starting” State. This is a transitional state between “Initialized” and “Started”.
Started Agent Agent in “Started State”. This is the default state for JIAC agents at runtime.
Stopped Agent Agent in “Stopped” State.
CleanedUp Agent Agent in “Cleaned Up” State.
Undefined AUndefined Agentgent Agent in “Undefined” State. This probably indicates a problem.

Communication Visualizations

Communication between Agents is shown by a channel (line) connecting the communicating agents in an ark shape. Each message exchanged is visualized by a letter envelope icon flying along the channel. The color of the message symbol and the channel provides some information about the type of communication used.

Simple Message Simple message exchange between two agents. This type of communication corresponds to the FIPA Inform speech act.
Action Invoke Request Action Invoke Request. The sending agent requests the receiver to perform a provided service.
Action Invoke Response Action Invoke Response. The sender informs the receiver that the requested action was performed successfully and sends a result.
Action Invoke Failure Action Invoke Failure. The sender informs the receiver that the requested action failed to execute successfully.
Message exchange with encrypted Payload Message Exchange with encrypted payload (used e.g. in combination with Kerberos).

Publications

J. Tonn and S. Kaiser. ASGARD – A Graphical Monitoring Tool for Distributed Agent Infrastructures. In Advances in Practical Applications of Agents and Multiagent Systems: 8th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multiagent Systems (AISC Vol. 70, Springer 2010), April 2010.

S. Kaiser, M. Burkhardt and J. Tonn. Drag-and-Drop Migration: An Example of Mapping User Actions to Agent Infrastructures. ITMAS 2010, May 2010.

ASGARD Downloads
ASGARD downloads are multi-platform releases for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

  • Release 2.7 (standalone)
    for JIAC 5.2.1 (should also work with older and newer JIAC versions but maybe with minor restrictions)

NOTE: Due to some legacy dependencies, the current version of ASGARD only works with Java 8 (Link to Java.net). Make sure to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable before running ASGARD or update the location in the start script itself.