Monitoring in Embedded Agents

author = "Marc S. Atkin and Paul R. Cohen",

title = "Monitoring in Embedded Agents",

institution = "Experimental Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Computer Science Department, University of Massachusetts",

year = "1995",

type = "Computer Science Technical Report",

number = "95-66",

address = "Box 34610, Lederle Graduate Research Center, Amherst. MA 01003-4610, USA",

keywords = "genetic algorithms, genetic programming",

URL = "

http://www-eksl.cs.umass.edu/papers/ijcai95-msa_95-66.pdf",

abstract = "Finding good monitoring strategies is an important process in the design of any embedded agent. We describe the nature of the monitoring problem, point out what makes it difficult, and show that while periodic monitoring strategies are often the easiest to derive, they are not always the most appropriate. We demonstrate mathematically and empirically that for a wide class of problems, the so-called 'cupcake problems', there exists a simple strategy, interval reduction, that outperforms periodic monitoring. We also show how features of the environment may influence the choice of the optimal strategy. The paper concludes with some thoughts about a monitoring strategy taxonomy, and what its defining features might be.",

notes = "refs to Atkin's Masters Thesis. Simulated robot in 2 dee world, sensors, conditionals, loop. LTB, explains what the cupcake problem is. interrupt handlers. Theoretical justification for cupcake result.",

size = "11 pages",