In: 06, 2006: Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Modelling of Objects, Components and Agents, MOCA'06, Bericht 272, FBI-HH-B-272, pages 245-266. June 06.
Abstract: Multi-agent applications raise the question of how cooperation between agents could take place in a robust and at the same time flexible way with respect to dynamic environments. Teamwork theories provide a starting point to specify general models of collaboration which enable agents to actually reason about their cooperative efforts and corresponding responsibilities towards other agents. In this paper a teamwork model is presented which accounts for both team structures and team activities as a comprehensive approach. To implement the model it is proposed to equip agents with separate team modules. These modules do not only provide representations of team structures and activities but, in addition, take over routine teamwork coordination tasks to relieve their respective agents of some of the teamwork overhead. A reference net-based approach is applied to the team modules as a suitable means to deal with the inherent concurrency and demand for dynamic composition in an elegant and intuitive way.