Inductive Veri cation and Validation of Multi-Agent Systems

Most veriication and validation (V&V) methods employ deductive reasoning to verify whether an implementation is in agreement with a speciication. We present a novel approach to veriication and validation of complex systems that is based on inductive reasoning. Induction allows to derive general rules from speciic behaviours of the software (e.g. the inputs and outputs). Using inductive logic programming, partial declarative speciications of the software can be induced. These rules can be readily interpreted by the designers or users of the software, and can in turn result in changes to the software. The approach outlined was tested in the domain of multi-agent systems, more in particular, the RoboCup domain.