During four SBIR Phase I projects for DARPA, Air Force, and
Army programs, Wagner Associates has designed a system and developed a
prototype for the automated creation of software agents from reusable
components described by metadata within specialized knowledge domains (e.g.,
environment, weapons, sensors). The patent-pending technology underlying
the AgentSEA™ combines reusable software components from an XML-described
component library into operational agents based on end-user requirements and
resource limitations.
We have designed example interfaces that require varying
levels of programming expertise and domain knowledge on the part of the
end-user. One interface, called the Requirements Wizard, needs no
programming expertise and provides the end-user with a hand-held
walk-through to define domain-specific requirements. Another interface,
called the Agent Builder, hides the programming details from the end-user by
presenting a toolkit of reusable components (Java Beans) for agent creation,
along with a palette for combining components based on input/output types
and events. It also has a configuration window that allows the end-user to
fine-tune each component’s behavior.
We have used the AgentSEA™ prototype, together with its
reusable components, to develop several specialized agents to monitor an
RS232 (serial port) for output from a COTS weather station, and translate
the data to a customized XML stream for display within an HTML page using an
XSL style sheet. Other agents were built to retrieve sensor data from
proprietary databases, translate the data into simulation PDUs, and then
display the data on a ModSAF simulation display. Figure 1 shows a prototype
AgentSEA™ interface for the creation of software agents through manipulation
of metadata-enhanced interface components.
