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The t.estbed simulates a class of a distributed knowledge-based THERE ARE TWO MAJOR T IEMES of this article. First, WC introduce readers to the emerging subdiscipline of AI called Dzstrrbuted Problem Solving, and more specifically the authors' research on Functionally Accurate, Cooperative systems Second, we discuss the st,ructure of tools that allow more thorough experimentation than has typically been performed in AI research An examplr of such a tool, the Distributed Vehicle Monitoring Testbed, will bc presented. The testbed simulates a class of dist,ributed knowledge-based problem solving systems operating on an abstracted version of a vehicle monitoring task. This presentation emphasizes how the t,estbed is structured to facilit,ate the study of a wide range of issues faced in t,he design of distributed problem solving networks. Distribut,ed Problem Solving (also called Distributed Al) combines the research interests of the fields of AI and Distributed Processing (Chandrasekaran 1981; Davis 1980, 1982; Fehling & Erman 1983).