Date of Award

3-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

David W. King, PhD

Abstract

Multi-agent systems show great potential for solving problems in complex and dynamic domains. Such systems comprise multiple individual entities called agents. Agents possessing the same behavior or physical form are called homogeneous while agents which differ in these respects are termed heterogeneous. The overall behavior of the system emerges from the many interactions of its component agents. Most multi-agent systems research to date focuses on systems of homogeneous agents, but recent work suggests that heterogeneous agents may improve system performance in certain tasks. This research examines the impact of heterogeneity on multi-agent system effectiveness and investigates the application of multi-agent systems to the complex problem of combined arms warfare. Hundreds of multi-agent teams are evolved and evaluated on their ability to complete certain objectives. Results show that combined arms tactics can emerge from the interactions of simple, decentralized agents, indicating that future research in this domain may prove valuable to the military art of combined arms warfare.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENG-MS-22-M-074

DTIC Accession Number

AD1166992

Download

Share

COinS