Situation agents: agent-based externalized steering logic

We present a simple and intuitive method for encapsulating part of agents’ steering and coordinating abilities into a new class of agents, called situation agents. Situation agents have all the abilities of typical agents. In addition, they can influence the steering decisions of any agent, including other situation agents, within their sphere of influence. Encapsulating steering logic into moving agents is a powerful ion which provides more flexibility and efficiency than traditional informed environment approaches. Situation agents work with many of the current steering methodologies, and can be dynamically or interactively activated or deactivated, offering an intuitive way to customize agent behavior. We demonstrate the effectiveness and ease of use of our proposed approach on a number of challenging situations including deadlocks and group behaviors.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: JVCA
• Authors: Matthew Schuerman, Shawn Singh, Mubbasir Kapadia, Petros Faloutsos
• Keywords: Current Steering Methodologies, JVCA 2010, Situation Agents, Steering