CPlanT: An acquaintance model-based coalition formation multi-agent system

Abstract

This article will describe the CPlanT multi-agent system that has been designed in order to suggest and test alternative approaches to coalition formation. The system has been implemented for planning the Operations Other Than War (OOTW) coalition, which is the domain with a strong emphasis put on maintaining privacy of communicated information among collaborating actors – agents and important level of autonomy of their decision making. The paper presents a concept of an acquaintance model as computational models of agents’ mutual awareness. In the acquaintance model the agents administer and maintain different types social knowledge that are exploited in the coalition formation process.