Using jason and MOISE+ to develop a team of cowboys

Abstract : This paper gives an overview of a multi-agent system forming a team of "cowboys" to compete in the Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2008 (the 'Cows and Herders' scenario). In the two previous contests, we tested and improved Jason [2], an agent platform based on an extension of an agent-oriented programming language called AgentSpeak(L) [5]. The language is inspired by the BDI architecture, thus based on notions such as goals, plans, beliefs, intentions, etc. The participation in previous contests also increased our experience both in using BDI concepts as well as in programming agents with Jason specifically. In the 2006 contest, the focus was on the definition of agent's plans [1], leading to rather reactive agents. In the 2007 contest, the focus was on (declarative) goals [3], leading to more pro-active, goal-directed agents.