Dynamic Resource Allocation in a MAS: A Case Study from the Industry

This paper describes the theoretic issues and the design of an implemented Multiagent System developed by DISI, the Computer Science Department of the University of Genova, and Ansaldo-STS, the Italian leader in design and construction of signalling and automation systems for conventional and high speed railway lines. The problem discussed in this paper is a multiagent resource allocation problem where resources are modeled as nodes in a directed, non-planar graph that agents must traverse from one start point to one end point. The goal of the multiagent system is to find a feasible allocation of resources to agents over time that emerges as the result of a sequence of local negotiation steps. The multiagent system has been implemented using JADE and exploits the JADE Web Services Integration Gateway to access legacy applications developed by Ansaldo-STS. It has already been tested on real data and will be integrated into one of Ansaldo-STS’s core business applications in a few months.