Using Agents in Virtual Environments to Assist Controllers to Manage Multiple Assets

BEER, Martin, ALBOUL, Lyuba, NORLING, Emma and WALLIS, Peter (2012). Using Agents in Virtual Environments to Assist Controllers to Manage Multiple Assets. In: Workshop on Cognitive Agents for Virtual Environments, AAMAS 2012, Valencia, Spain, 4th June 2012.

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Abstract

Search and rescue operations often require complex coordination of a range of resources, including human and robotic resources. This paper discusses a proposed new framework that allows agent technology to be used in conjunction with a virtual environment to provide a human controller with an effective visualisation of the distribution of a collection of autonomous objects, in our case, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) so that they can be managed in a way that allows them to successfully complete the task in the minimum possible time. It is our contention that to do this effectively there needs to be two-way initiation of verbal conversations, but that it is not necessary for the system to completely understand the conversations required. An example scenario is presented that illustrates how such a system would be used in practice, illustrating how a single human can verbally communicate with a swarm of semi-autonomous actors verbally and envisage their activities in a swarm based on the visual cues provided within the virtual environment. An agent-based solution is proposed that meets the requirements and provides an effective command station that can manage a search using a collection of UAVs effectively.

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