In this paper, we address the question that how to design efficient MAC protocols in selfish and noncooperative networks, which is crucial in nowadays open environments. We model the medium access control problem as a non-cooperative game in which the MAC protocol can be regarded as distributed strategy update scheme approaching the equilibrium point. Under such game theoretical framework, thre...

The problem of fault tolerance in cooperative manipulators rigidly connected to an undeformable load is addressed in this paper. Four categories of faults are considered: free-swinging joint faults (FSJFs), locked joint faults (LJFs), incorrectly measured joint position faults (JPFs), and incorrectly measured joint velocity faults (JVFs). Free-swinging and locked joint faults are detected via a...

Recently, many brain-inspired models have been used in attempts to support the cognitive abilities of artificial organisms. In this article, we introduce a computational framework to facilitate these efforts, emphasizing the cooperative performance of brain substructures. Specifically, we introduce an agent-based representation of brain areas, together with a hierarchical cooperative co-evoluti...

The paper describes a project involving cooperative learning of statistical topics implemented in a web environment. The project is the result of a fruitful partnership between the Faculty of Statistics of the University of Bologna and the Institute of Educational Research of the Emilia Romagna Region. The synergy between mathematics and statistics offers a concrete example of theoretical metho...

30 years after the birth of the Scandinavian tradition for system design, a new generation of researchers, are struggling to adapt and reinforce the methodology of cooperative design. We practice user participation in order to improve democracy at work and quality of products, mutual learning in the design process and ‘designing by doing’ in order to promote communication and learning in the de...

Non-cooperative decision-making problems in a decentralized supply chain can be characterized and studied using a stochastic game model. In an earlier paper, the authors developed a methodology that uses machine learning for finding (near) optimal policies for non-zero sum stochastic games, and applied their methodology on an N-retailer and W-warehouse inventory-planning problem. The focus of t...

Coordination and collaboration are naturally used by groups for carrying out activities and solving problems that require cooperation. However, getting a set of computer agents to do the same has been a problem primarily addressed by the AI community and recently by the database community as worlcfow and process management problems. Not surprisingly, the problem has been addressed at different ...

This paper presents a case study on the use of Object Petri Nets. The case study is that of a cooperative editor for hierarchical diagrams. The methodology for deriving the Petri Net model is to follow an object-oriented design methodology: first we prepare the Object Model in the OMT notation of Rumbaugh; then we prepare the Dynamic Model in the form of lifecycles, following the Shlaer-Mellor ...

The transition from multiple-port to single-port robotic systems in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures has made flexible, dexterous manipulation an essential capability. The requirement that single-port MIS devices span an enclosed surgical workspace through only one access point while avoiding collateral damage to surrounding tissues necessitates the employment of mechanically sophist...