Trial by Fire: Understanding the Design Requirements for Agents in Complex Environments

Second, These sections describe how Phoenix agents there are motivating issues, of plan in real time but do not provide the which the foremost is to understand minute detail that is offered elsewhere (Cohen how complex environments et al. forthcoming). The next section illustrates constrain on the design of Phoenix agents controlling a forest fire. We seek general The last section describes the current status of rules that justify and explain the project and our immediate goals. The terms in these rules describe The Phoenix task is to control simulated characteristics of environments, forest fires by deploying simulated bulldozers, tasks and behaviors, and the crews, airplanes, and other objects. We discuss architectures of agents. Phoenix Environment, Layers 1 and 2 but Phoenix is a commentary on the Phoenix Simulator. In the following pages, we describe Phoenix from the perspective of our technical aims and motives. The second section describes the Phoenix task--controlling simulated forest fires-- and explains why we use a simulated environment instead of a real, physical one. The two lowest layers of Phoenix, described in The Phoenix Environment, Layers 1 and 2, implement the simulated environment and maintain the illusion that the forest fire and agents are acting simultaneously. Above these layers are two others: a Figure 2. Fire at 12:30 Bulldozers are Close to organization of multiple Meeting at the Fire Front. The left pane displays the real world; the right pane displays fireboss sees it. Firefighting objects are also and other agents are semiautonomous.