Task Coordination in Multiagent Systems

Abstract

We present an overview of the Task Coordination (TC) problem in multiagent systems and discuss the specific elements that are required to develop a solution to this problem. Task coordination refers to a twofold problem where an exogenously imposed state of affairs should be satisfied by a multiagent system (MAS): (1) the agents need to be assigned tasks to fulfill the given state of affairs (task allocation) and (2) the behavior of agents needs to be monitored to evaluate whether their tasks are fulfilled so that responsibility for dismissed tasks can be determined (task responsibility). This becomes especially challenging when agents are autonomous and may have imperfect information about their environment. Then, the allocation of tasks and responsibilities should regard agents' strategic ability under imperfect information. To date, existing work on the application of strategic reasoning for task allocation assumes perfect information for agents (dismissing imperfect information settings) and allocates tasks to individual agents (dismissing the potential for allocating tasks to agent groups). This calls for TC frameworks able to model task allocation in imperfect information settings and by allowing the allocation of tasks to agent groups. Such a framework should also be able to determine the responsibility of agents for dismissed tasks via a task responsibility mechanism that complements the task allocation procedure. This work discusses various aspects of the TC problem, sets forward a conceptual analysis on expected properties of potential solution concepts, and presents the overview of a suggested approach for developing a TC framework using techniques from formal strategic reasoning.