GNU/Linux AI & Alife HOWTO by John Eikenberry (red scrolls of magic .TXT) 📕

packages which makes easy to

build multiagent systems using Java. JATLite provides only

lightweight, small set of packages so that the developers can

handle all the packages with little efforts. For flexibility

JATLite provides four different layers from abstract to Router

implementation. A user can access any layer we are providing.

Each layer has a different set of assumptions. The user can

choose an appropriate layer according to the assumptions on the

layer and user’s application. The introduction page contains

JATLite features and the set of assumptions for each layer.

 

JATLiteBeans

 

� Web site: waitaki.otago.ac.nz/JATLiteBean/

 

� Improved, easier-to-use interface to JATLite features

including KQML message parsing, receiving, and sending.

 

� Extensible architecture for message handling and agent

“thread of control” management

 

� Useful functions for parsing of simple KQML message content

 

� JATLiteBean supports automatic advertising of agent

capabilities to facilitator agents

 

� Automatic, optional, handling of the “forward” performative

 

� Generic configuration file parser

 

� KQML syntax checker

 

Java(tm) Agent Template

 

� Web site: www-cdr.stanford.edu/ABE/JavaAgent.html

 

The JAT provides a fully functional template, written entirely

in the Java language, for constructing software agents which

communicate peer-to-peer with a community of other agents

distributed over the Internet. Although portions of the code

which define each agent are portable, JAT agents are not

migratory but rather have a static existence on a single host.

This behavior is in contrast to many other “agent” technologies.

(However, using the Java RMI, JAT agents could dynamically

migrate to a foreign host via an agent resident on that host).

Currently, all agent messages use KQML as a toplevel protocol

or message wrapper. The JAT includes functionality for

dynamically exchanging “Resources”, which can include Java

classes (e.g. new languages and interpreters, remote services,

etc.), data files and information inlined into the KQML

messages.

 

Khepera Simulator

 

� Web site: diwww.epfl.ch/lami/team/michel/khep-sim/

 

Khepera Simulator is a public domain software package written by

Olivier MICHEL during the preparation of his Ph.D. thesis, at

the Laboratoire I3S, URA 1376 of CNRS and University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France. It allows to write your own controller

for the mobile robot Khepera using C or C++ languages, to test

them in a simulated environment and features a nice colorful X11

graphical interface. Moreover, if you own a Khepera robot, it

can drive the real robot using the same control algorithm. It is

mainly oriented toward to researchers studying autonomous

agents.

 

lyntin

 

� Web site: lyntin.sourceforge.net/

 

Lyntin is an extensible Mud client and framework for the

creation of autonomous agents, or bots, as well as mudding in

general. Lyntin is centered around Python, a dynamic, object-oriented, and fun programming language and based on TinTin++ a

lovely mud client.

Mole

 

� Web site: mole.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/

 

Mole is an agent system supporting mobile agents programmed in

Java. Mole’s agents consist of a cluster of objects, which have

no references to the outside, and as a whole work on tasks given

by the user or another agent. They have the ability to roam a

network of “locations” autonomously. These “locations” are an

abstraction of real, existing nodes in the underlying network.

They can use location-specific resources by communicating with

dedicated agents representing these services. Agents are able to

use services provided by other agents and to provide services as

well.

 

Narval

 

� Web site: www.logilab.org

 

Narval is the acronym of “Network Assistant Reasoning with a

Validating Agent Language”. It is a personal network assistant

based on artificial intelligence and agent technologies. It

executes recipes (sequences of actions) to perform tasks. It is

easy to specify a new action using XML and to implement it using

Python. Recipes can be built and debugged using a graphical

interface.

 

NeL

 

� Web site: www.nevrax.org

 

NeL is actually a game development library (for massive multi-player games), but I’m including it here as it (will) include a

fairly sizable AI library. Here’s a blurb from the whitepaper:

 

The purpose of the AI library is to provide a pragmatic approach

to creating a distributed agents platform. Its focus is agents;

individual entities that communicate regardless of location,

using an action-reaction model.

 

OAA

 

� Web site: www.ai.sri.com/~oaa/

 

The Open Agent Architecture is a framework in which a community

of software agents running on distributed machines can work

together on tasks assigned by human or non-human participants in

the community. Distributed cooperation and high-level

communication are two ideas central to the foundation of the

OAA.

 

It defines an interagent communication language and supports

multiple platforms and programming languages.

 

OpenSteer

 

� Web site: opensteer.sourceforge.net

 

OpenSteer is a C++ library to help build steering behaviors for

autonomous characters in games and animation. OpenSteer provides

an app which displays predefined demos of steering behaviors.

You can prototype, visualize and debug your own as a plug-in.

 

OSCAR

 

� Web site: oscarhome.soc-sci.arizona.edu/ftp/OSCAR-web-page/oscar.html

 

The goal of the OSCAR project is the formulation of a general

theory of rationality and its implementation in an artificial

rational agent. The function of artificial agents is to draw

conclusions and make decisions on the basis of information

supplied to them. OSCAR is a fully implemented architecture for

rational agents, based upon a general purpose defeasible

reasoner. OSCAR is written in Common Lisp and is free for

educational and research purposes.

 

PAI

 

� Web site: utenti.quipo.it/claudioscordino/pai.html

 

AI (Programmable Artificial Intelligence) is a program capable

of having a conversation in its mother tongue, English. Written

in C++.

 

Penguin!

 

� FTP site: http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-category/23_Miscellaneous_Modules/Penguin/FSG/

 

Penguin is a Perl 5 module. It provides you with a set of

functions which allow you to:

 

� send encrypted, digitally signed Perl code to a remote

machine to be executed.

 

� receive code and, depending on who signed it, execute it in

an arbitrarily secure, limited compartment.

 

The combination of these functions enable direct Perl coding of

algorithms to handle safe internet commerce, mobile information-gathering agents, “live content” web browser helper apps, distributed load-balanced computation, remote software update, distance machine administration, content-based information propagation, Internet-wide shared-data applications, network application builders, and so on.

 

Ps-i

 

� Web site: ps-i.sourceforge.net

 

Ps-i is an environment for running agent-based simulations. It

is cross-platform, with binaries available for Win32. Features

include:

� declarative language for model specification

 

� industry standard Tcl/Tk scripting with builtin routine

optimization, speculative evaluation and xf86 JIT compiler

users can create complex models without sacrificing

perfomance

 

� user friendly interface

 

� save and restore program runs

 

� change model parameters on the fly

 

� data visualization: field display with multiple agent shapes

and color, statistics window, agent viewer, routine browser

and highlight agents tool

 

Pyro

 

� Web site: http://pyrorobotics.org/

 

Pyro is a library, environment, graphical user interface, and

low-level drivers to explore AI and robotics using the Python

language. It works with many real robotics platforms and

simulators. Extensive algorithms including behavior-based,

vision (motion tracking, blobs, etc.), learning (backpropagation, self-organizing maps, etc.), evolutionary, and

more.

 

RealTimeBattle

 

� Web site: www.lysator.liu.se/realtimebattle/

 

RealTimeBattle is a programming game, in which robots controlled

by programs are fighting each other. The goal is to destroy the

enemies, using the radar to examine the environment and the

cannon to shoot.

 

� Game progresses in real time, with the robot programs running

as child processes to RealTimeBattle.

 

� The robots communicate with the main program using the

standard input and output.

 

� Robots can be constructed in almost any programming language.

 

� Maximum number of robots can compete simultaneously.

 

� A simple messaging language is used for communication, which

makes it easy to start constructing robots.

 

� Robots behave like real physical object.

 

� You can create your own arenas.

 

� Highly configurable.

 

Remembrance Agents

 

� Web site: www.remem.org

 

Remembrance Agents are a set of applications that watch over a

user’s shoulder and suggest information relevant to the current

situation. While query-based memory aids help with direct

recall, remembrance agents are an augmented associative memory.

For example, the word-processor version of the RA continuously

updates a list of documents relevant to what’s being typed or

read in an emacs buffer. These suggested documents can be any

text files that might be relevant to what you are currently

writing or reading. They might be old emails related to the

mail you are currently reading, or abstracts from papers and

newspaper articles that discuss the topic of your writing.

 

Robocode

 

� Web site: robocode.sourceforge.net

 

A java based robot combat programming game. It provides a simple

API and class framework. It is designed as a means of learning

Java and is easy to start using while not constraining the

programmer from more advanced techniques. It has a built in

security manager for running other peoples robots in a safe way.

 

RoboTournament

 

� Web site: robotournament.sourceforge.net/

 

RoboTournament is a RoboRally inspired game where players

program their robots to vanquish their opponents. RoboTournament

features: Multiple Game Types: Death Match, Rally, and Capture

The Flag. Multi-Player through TCP/IP, Six weapons including

BFG, Map Editor, and a wide variety of board elements.

 

SimAgent

 

� Web site:

www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/poplog/packages/simagent.html

 

The SimAgent toolkit provides a range of resources for research

and teaching related to the development of interacting agents in

environments of various degrees and kinds of complexity. It can

be run as a pure simulation tool, or installed in a robot with a

sufficiently powerful on-board computer, e.g. running linux. It

was originally developed to support exploratory research on

human-like intelligent agents, but has also been used for

student projects developing a variety of interactive games and

simulations.

 

SimRobot

 

� Web site: www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~simrobot/

 

� FTP site: ftp.uni-bremen.de/pub/ZKW/INFORM/simrobot/

 

SimRobot is a program for simulation of sensor based robots in a

3D environment. It is written in C++, runs under UNIX and X11

and needs the graphics toolkit XView.

 

� Simulation of robot kinematics

 

� Hierarchically built scene definition via a simple definition

language

 

� Various sensors built in: camera, facette eye, distance

measurement, light sensor, etc.

 

� Objects defined as polyeders

 

� Emitter abstractly defined; can be interpreted e.g. as light

or sound

 

� Camera images computed according to the raytracing or Z-buffer algorithms known from computer graphics

 

� Specific sensor/motor software interface for communicating

with the simulation

 

� Texture mapping onto the object surfaces: bitmaps in various

formats

 

� Comprehensive visualization of the scene: wire frame w/o

hidden lines, sensor and actor values

 

� Interactive as well as batch driven control of the agents and

operation in the environment

 

� Collision detection

 

� Extendability with user defined object types

 

� Possible socket communication to e.g. the Khoros image

processing software

 

spyse

 

� Web site: spyse.sf.net

 

� Alt Web site: zope.org/Members/drapmeyer/spyse

 

spyse is a development framework and platform for building

multiagent systems using the Python programming language. A

multiagent system (MAS) combines concepts from distributed

computing and artificial intelligence. Agents are autonomously

reasoning software entities that can collaborate (or compete) in

order to achieve a (common) goal. By cooperating they create

emergent behaviour in the system (distributed artificial

intelligence). The architecture of a MAS is specified in the

FIPA standard.

 

Spyse provides multiple means for reasoning (BDI logics, CLIPS

expert shell, etc.) and communicating locally and remotely.

 

Each agent has its own thread of control. Agents within and

among instances of the platform communicate by exchanging

messages based on ontologies. Spyse makes use of the Web

Ontology Language (OWL) defined for the Semantic Web.

 

TclRobots

 

� Web site: www.nyx.net/~tpoindex/

 

TclRobots is a