Spatially distributed normative objects

Abstract

Organisational structures for multi-agent systems are usually defined independently of any spatial or temporal structure. Therefore, when the multi-agent system is situated in a spatial environment, there is usually a conceptual gap between the definition of the system's organisational structures and the definition of the environment. In this paper, we focus on a mechanism for the spatial distribution of an organization's normative information. Spatially distributing the normative information over the environment is a natural way to simplify the definition of organisational structures and the development of large-scale multi-agent systems. By distributing the normative information in different spatial locations, we allow agents to directly access the relevant information needed in each environmental context. We extend our previous work on a language for modelling multi-agent environments in order to allow for the definition of spatially distributed norms in the form of normative objects. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.