Where we show that agent-oriented decomposition is an
effective way of partitioning the problem space of a complex
system.
Autonomy helps because:
It is a natural representation of complex systems.
Since decisions are made by autonomous entities selection can be made based on the local situation.
Flexible interactions help because:
Run-time decisions about interactions means designer does not have to predict a priori all possible links, which would be impossible.
Managing relationships is much easier since they are done bottom-up.
For example, manufacturing systems have been built where every
part is represented by an agent whose objective is getting itself
to the end of the line, having a specified set of operations
performed upon it. These systems have been successful because
Localized decision-making means that when machines break we can route around them.
Since schedules are built dynamically, they can be easily altered.
The explicitly defined relationships between parts identify
the agents that need to coordinate their actions.