Action Duration Generalization for Exact Multi-Agent Collective Construction

Martin Rameš, Pavel Surynek

2024

Abstract

This paper addresses exact approaches to multi-agent collective construction problem which tasks a group of cooperative agents to build a given structure in a blocksworld under the gravity constraint. We propose a generalization of the existing exact model based on mixed integer linear programming by accommodating varying agent action durations. We refer to the model as a fraction-time model. The introduction of action durations enables one to create a more realistic model for various domains. It provides a significant reduction of plan execution duration at the cost of increased computational time, which rises steeply the closer the model gets to the exact real-world action duration. We also propose a makespan estimation function for the fraction-time model. This can be used to estimate the construction time reduction size for cost-benefit analysis. The fraction-time model and the makespan estimation function have been evaluated in a series of experiments using a set of benchmark structures. The results show a significant reduction of plan execution duration for non-constant duration actions due to decreasing synchronization overhead at the end of each action. According to the results, the makespan estimation function provides a reasonably accurate estimate of the makespan.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Rameš M. and Surynek P. (2024). Action Duration Generalization for Exact Multi-Agent Collective Construction. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART; ISBN 978-989-758-680-4, SciTePress, pages 718-725. DOI: 10.5220/0012385600003636

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icaart24,
author={Martin Rameš and Pavel Surynek},
title={Action Duration Generalization for Exact Multi-Agent Collective Construction},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART},
year={2024},
pages={718-725},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012385600003636},
isbn={978-989-758-680-4},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART
TI - Action Duration Generalization for Exact Multi-Agent Collective Construction
SN - 978-989-758-680-4
AU - Rameš M.
AU - Surynek P.
PY - 2024
SP - 718
EP - 725
DO - 10.5220/0012385600003636
PB - SciTePress