ProgrammingAgentbasedMobileAppsTheJaCaAndroidFrameworkJAAMASTrackAn - PDF document

1 ProgrammingAgent-basedMobileApps:TheJaCa
ProgrammingAgent-basedMobileApps:TheJaCa-AndroidFrameworkJAAMASTrackAngeloCroattiAlmaMaterStudiorumUniversitàdiBolognaa.croatti@unibo.itAlessandroRicciAlmaMaterStudiorumUniversitàdiBolognaa.ricci@unibo.it 1Availablehere:https://github.com/pslabunibo/jaca-android 1!setup. 2 3+!setup 4-makeArtifact("gps","GPSService",Id); 5focus(Id); 6makeArtifact("sms","SMSService",_). 7 8+pos(Lat,Lon):nearbyHome(Lat,Lon,Res)&Res==True 9-sendSMS("Arrivedathome."). Figure1:Atrivialexampleofanappprogrammedasagent.relevantdependingonthespecicapplication.Inourcase,thisexibilityisachievedbymeansofartifacts,thatis:theagentcaninstantiatetheproperartifacts,eventuallyatruntime,dependingonwhatitneedstoperceive.Theagent-artifactinteractionmodelmirrorstheagentactionandperceptioncapabilities.Anartifactprovidesasetofoperationsthatcanbeconceivedasactionsontheagentside.So,byinstantiatinganartifact,thesetofactionsthattheBDIagentcandoisextendedwiththesetofoperationsprovidedbythatartifact.IntegrationwiththeDeviceContextandApplicationServices.Likeinthecaseoftheusercontext,alsodevicecontextandfurtherappli-cationservicesprovidedbythemobileenvironmentbeingeitherfromtheAndroidframeworkitselforfromapplicationsinstalledonthedevicecanbemodeledandaccessedbyproperlydesignedartifacts.Tointeractwithexistingapplicationservices,artifactscanbeusedtowrapandhidelow-levelplatform-dependentcodeforenablinginteractionbetweendierentappsandmakeitpossibletoexploitservicesprovidedbyoneappfromanotherapp.ScalingwithComplexity.InJaCa-Androidispossibletodesignthemobileappasamulti-agentsystem,involvingmorethanoneagentrunningonthemobiledevice,eventuallysharingthemobileenvironment:thisisobtainablebyspawningthemobileappasafullJaCaMosystem.Also,itispossibletoconsiderthemobileappandthepersonalassistantagentaspartofalargerdistributedmulti-agentsystem.Inthiscase,JaCa-AndroidallowstheexploitationoftheJaCaModistributedinfrastructuresupportthatallowsforanagentrunningonsomedevice/nodesoinitsownMAStodynamicallyjoinandinteractwithanexistingJaCaMo-basedMAS.3JACA-ANDROIDARCHITECTURETheJaCa-AndroidframeworkrunsontopofaJaCaMoruntime,extendingitwiththerequiredabstractionstomakeitpossiblethedesignandtheexecutionofMASsovertheAndroidplatform.InFigure2anabstractrepresentationofthecompleteframeworkisreported,startingfromtheAndroidFramework.TheJaCaMorun-timeactuallyisbasedonJasonruntimerunningtheBDIagentsandCArtAgOruntimemanagingtheartifact-basedenviron-ment[6,7].LikeinthecaseofJaCaMo,theJaCa-AndroidruntimeisfullyJava-basedandrunsasanormalAndroidapp.Generallyspeaking,theJaCa-Androidframeworkcanbeusedasageneralpurposeframeworkfordevelopingandrunningmulti-agentsystemsonthetopoftheAndroidplatform.Besidesthisgeneralview,theframeworkhasbeenexplicitlydesignedtofa-cilitatethedevelopmentofpersonalassistantagents,runningonmobile(andwearable)devices.Tothispurpose,theframework Figure2:JaCa-Androidcoarse-grainedarchitecture.providesalayerofartifactswithfunctionalitiesusefultosupportcontext-awareness.TwomainexamplesareBasicContextandDeviceContextartifacts.Therstoneallowsagentstogetinfor-mationabouttheusercontext,includingwheretheuserislocated(i.e.thegeolocationobtainedbytheGPS),whattheuserislookingat(obtainedbythedevicecamera),tomentiontwomainones.Thesecondoneallowsagentstoobservechangesindevicesensorsvalues,e.g.,changesintheorientation(givenbytheaccelerometerorthegyroscope),changesrelatedtothelightsensor,andsoon.4RELATEDWORKSIntheliterature,severalworkshavebeenproposedtoenablethedevelopmentofgeneral-purposemobileapps/systemsusingexist-ingandwell-knownagentprogrammingplatforms.Agent-basedtechnologiesappliedinthecontextofmobilecomputingstartedwithmobileagent(MA)technologies[4,10,14,16,28].Firstcon-creteexamplesinagentliteratureinclude3APL-M[17].Inthecontextofthedevelopmentofintelligentagentsonmobiledevices,wecancitetheAgentFactoryMicroEdition(AFME)[21]andtheANDROMEDAplatform[1,2].Also,anotherattempttocombineagentsandAndroidistheJADE-LEAPproject[5,29]Finally,aworkforportingtheASTRAagent-orientedlanguageontheAndroidplatform[25]isavailablefordevelopingcontext-sensitiveapps.5FINALREMARKSThispaperoersaglimpseoftheJaCa-Androidframeworkintermsof(1)theapproachproposedforthedesignofagent-basedmobileapps,and(2)itsinternalarchitecture.ThisisanextendedabstractofthefullpaperpublishedatJAAMAS[13].Finally,itisworthclarifyingthatJaCa-Androidhasbeencurrentlyadoptedindevelopingreal-worldcasestudies,bothintheHealthcaredomain[11]andMixedRealitycontexts[12],forevaluationpurposes. JaCaMo Android Framework ART: Android Runtime + HAL JaCa Android Smart App Artifact DeviceContext BasicContext Activity Service JaCaAndroid Artifact Service Artifact MAS Service CameraArtifact GPSArtifact NetArtifact ... Main Agent Main Agent Main Agent Agent Agent Agent Observer Agent Observer Agent Observer Agent « Artifact » MainUI « Artifact » Sensor « Artifact » User « Artifact » WebService Activity Artifact UIArtifact Observe & Act Observe & Act JaCaMo Android Framework ART: Android Runtime + HAL JaCa Android Smart App Artifact DeviceContext BasicContext Activity Service JaCaAndroid Artifact Service Artifact MAS Service CameraArtifact GPSArtifact NetArtifact ... Main Agent Agent Observer Agent « Artifact » MainUI « Artifact » Sensor « Artifact » User « Artifact » WebService Activity Artifact UIArtifact Observe & Act REFERENCES[1]JorgeAgüero,MiguelRebollo,CarlosCarrascosa,andVicenteJulián.2008.De-velopingintelligentagentsontheAndroidplatform.InSixthEuropeanWorkshoponMulti-AgentSystems(EUMAS2008).114.[2]JorgeAgüero,MiguelRebollo,CarlosCarrascosa,andVicenteJulián.2009.DoesAndroidDreamwithIntelligentAgents?.InInternationalSymposiumonDis-tributedComputingandArticialIntelligence2008(DCAI2008),JuanM.Corchado,SaraRodríguez,JamesLlinas,andJoséM.Molina(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidel-berg,Berlin,Heidelberg,194204.[3]MatthiasBaldauf,SchahramDustdar,andFlorianRosenberg.2007.ASurveyonContextAwareSystems.Int.J.AdHocUbiquitousComput.2,4(June2007),263277.[4]P.Bellavista,A.Corradi,andC.Stefanelli.2001.Mobileagentmiddlewareformobilecomputing.Computer34,3(March2001),7381.[5]FedericoBergenti,GiovanniCaire,andDaniloGotta.2014.AgentsontheMove:JADEforAndroidDevices..InWOA2014(CEURWorkshopProceedings,Vol.1260),CorradoSantoroandFedericoBergenti(Eds.).CEUR-WS.org.[6]OlivierBoissier,RafaelHBordini,JomiF.Hübner,andAlessandroRicci.2020.Multi-AgentOrientedProgramming:ProgrammingMulti-AgentSystemsUsingJaCaMo.MITPress.[7]OlivierBoissier,RafaelH.Bordini,JomiF.Hübner,AlessandroRicci,andAndreaSanti.2013.Multi-agentorientedprogrammingwithJaCaMo.ScienceofComputerProgramming78,6(2013),747761.[8]RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFallahSeghrouchni(Eds.).2005.Multi-AgentProgramming:Languages,PlatformsandApplications.Number15inMultiagentSystems,ArticialSocieties,andSimulatedOrganiza-tions.Springer.[9]RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFallahSeghrouchni(Eds.).2009.Multi-AgentProgramming:Languages,ToolsandApplications.Springer.[10]M.Breugst,S.Choy,L.Hagen,M.Höft,andT.Magedanz.1999.GrasshopperAnAgentPlatformforMobileAgent-BasedServicesinFixedandMobileTelecommuni-cationsEnvironments.SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,326357.[11]AngeloCroatti,SaraMontagna,AlessandroRicci,EmilianoGamberini,VittorioAlbarello,andVanniAgnoletti.2019.BDIPersonalMedicalAssistantAgents:TheCaseofTraumaTrackingandAlerting.ArticialIntelligenceinMedicine96(May2019),187197.[12]AngeloCroattiandAlessandroRicci.2018.AModelandPlatformforBuildingAgent-BasedPervasiveMixedRealitySystems.InAdvancesinPracticalApplica-tionsofAgents,Multi-AgentSystems,andComplexity:ThePAAMSCollection,YvesDemazeau,BoAn,JavierBajo,andAntonioFernández-Caballero(Eds.).SpringerInternationalPublishing,Cham,127139.[13]AngeloCroattiandAlessandroRicci.2020.MobileAppsasPersonalAssistantAgents:theJaCa-AndroidFrameworkforprogrammingAgents-basedapplica-tionsonmobiledevices.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems34,2(July2020).https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-020-09474-7[14]AmalElFallahSeghrouchniandAlexandruSuna.2005.ClaimandSympa:AProgrammingEnvironmentforIntelligentandMobileAgents.SpringerUS,Boston,MA,95122.[15]MartinGriss,ReedLetsinger,DickCowan,MichaelVanHilst,andRobertKessler.2002.CoolAgent:IntelligentDigitalAssistantsforMobileProfessionals-Phase1Retrospective.TechnicalReport.HPLTechnicalReport.[16]DagJohansen,KÃ¥reJ.Lauvset,RobbertvanRenesse,FredB.Schneider,NilsP.Sudmann,andKjetilJacobsen.2002.ATACOMARetrospective.Softw.Pract.Exper.32,6(May2002),605619.[17]FernandoKoch.2005.3APL-MPlatformforDeliberativeAgentsinMobileDevices.InProceedingsoftheFourthInternationalJointConferenceonAutonomousAgentsandMultiagentSystems(TheNetherlands)(AAMAS'05).ACM

2 ,NewYork,NY,USA,153154.[18]Fernando
,NewYork,NY,USA,153154.[18]FernandoKochandIyadRahwan.2004.TheRoleofAgentsinIntelligentMobileServices.InProc.ofthe7thPacicRimInternationalWorkshoponMulti-Agents,PRIMA2004(Auckland,NewZealand),Vol.3371.115127.[19]FernandoLuizKochandIyadRahwan.2004.Classicationofagents-basedmobileassistants.InProceedingsoftheAAMASWorkshoponAgentsforUbiquitousComputing(UbiAgents)(NewYork,USA).[20]PattieMaes.1994.AgentsThatReduceWorkandInformationOverload.Commun.ACM37,7(July1994),3040.[21]C.Muldoon,G.M.P.O'Hare,R.Collier,andM.J.O'Grady.2006.AgentFactoryMicroEdition:AFrameworkforAmbientApplications.InComputationalScienceICCS2006,VassilN.Alexandrov,GeertDickvanAlbada,PeterM.A.Sloot,andJackDongarra(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,727734.[22]AndreaOmicini,AlessandroRicci,andMirkoViroli.2008.ArtifactsintheA&Ameta-modelformulti-agentsystems.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems17(3)(Dec.2008).[23]AnandRanganathanandRoyH.Campbell.2003.AMiddlewareforContext-awareAgentsinUbiquitousComputingEnvironments.InProceedingsoftheACM/IFIP/USENIX2003InternationalConferenceonMiddleware(RiodeJaneiro,Brazil)(Middleware'03).Springer-Verlag,Berlin,Heidelberg,143161.[24]AlessandroRicci,MichelePiunti,andMirkoViroli.2011.EnvironmentProgram-minginMulti-agentSystems:AnArtifact-basedPerspective.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems23,2(Sept.2011),158192.[25]S.Russell,O.Doyle,andR.W.Collier.2017.DevelopingAndroidapplicationsusingagent-orientedprogramming.In201712thInternationalConferenceonIntelligentSystemsandKnowledgeEngineering(ISKE).17.[26]JoaoSantos,JoelJ.P.C.Rodrigues,BrunoM.C.Silva,JoaoCasal,KashifSaleem,andVictorDenisov.2016.AnIoT-basedmobilegatewayforintelligentpersonalassistantsonmobilehealthenvironments.JournalofNetworkandComputerApplications71(2016),194204.[27]YoavShoham.1993.Agent-OrientedProgramming.ArticialIntelligence60(1993),5192.[28]AlexandruSunaandAmalElFallah-Seghrouchni.2005.AMobileAgentsPlat-form:Architecture,MobilityandSecurityElements.InProgrammingMulti-AgentSystems,RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFal-lahSeghrouchni(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,126146.[29]YuWeihongandYanChen.2013.TheDevelopmentofJadeAgentforAndroidMobilePhones.InProceedingsofthe2012InternationalConferenceonInformationTechnologyandSoftwareEngineering,WeiLu,GuoqiangCai,WeibinLiu,andWeiweiXing(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,215222.[30]MichaelWooldridgeandNicholasR.Jennings.1995.Intelligentagents:theoryandpractice.TheKnowledgeEngineeringReview10,2(1995),115152. JorgeAgüero,MiguelRebollo,CarlosCarrascosa,andVicenteJulián.2008.De-velopingintelligentagentsontheAndroidplatform.InSixthEuropeanWorkshoponMulti-AgentSystems(EUMAS2008).114.114.JorgeAgüero,MiguelRebollo,CarlosCarrascosa,andVicenteJulián.2009.DoesAndroidDreamwithIntelligentAgents?.InInternationalSymposiumonDis-tributedComputingandArticialIntelligence2008(DCAI2008),JuanM.Corchado,SaraRodríguez,JamesLlinas,andJoséM.Molina(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidel-berg,Berlin,Heidelberg,194204.194204.MatthiasBaldauf,SchahramDustdar,andFlorianRosenberg.2007.ASurveyonContextAwareSystems.Int.J.AdHocUbiquitousComput.2,4(June2007),2007),P.Bellavista,A.Corradi,andC.Stefanelli.2001.Mobileagentmiddlewareformobilecomputing.34,3(March2001),7381.7381.FedericoBergenti,GiovanniCaire,andDaniloGotta.2014.AgentsontheMove:JADEforAndroidDevices..InWOA2014(CEURWorkshopProceedings,Vol.1260)CorradoSantoroandFedericoBergenti(Eds.).CEUR-WS.org.WS.org.OlivierBoissier,RafaelHBordini,JomiF.Hübner,andAlessandroRicci.2020.Multi-AgentOrientedProgramming:ProgrammingMulti-AgentSystemsUsing.MITPress.ess.OlivierBoissier,RafaelH.Bordini,JomiF.Hübner,AlessandroRicci,andAndreaSanti.2013.Multi-agentorientedprogrammingwithJaCaMo.ScienceofComputerProgramming78,6(2013),747761.747761.RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFallahSeghrouchni(Eds.).2005.Multi-AgentProgramming:Languages,PlatformsandApplicationsNumber15inMultiagentSystems,ArticialSocieties,andSimulatedOrganiza-tions.Springer..RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFallahSeghrouchni(Eds.).2009.Multi-AgentProgramming:Languages,ToolsandApplicationsSpringer..M.Breugst,S.Choy,L.Hagen,M.Höft,andT.Magedanz.1999.GrasshopperAnAgentPlatformforMobileAgent-BasedServicesinFixedandMobileTelecommuni-cationsEnvironments.SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,326357.326357.AngeloCroatti,SaraMontagna,AlessandroRicci,EmilianoGamberini,VittorioAlbarello,andVanniAgnoletti.2019.BDIPersonalMedicalAssistantAgents:TheCaseofTraumaTrackingandAlerting.ArticialIntelligenceinMedicine(May2019),187197.197.AngeloCroattiandAlessandroRicci.2018.AModelandPlatformforBuildingAgent-BasedPervasiveMixedRealitySystems.InAdvancesinPracticalApplica-tionsofAgents,Multi-AgentSystems,andComplexity:ThePAAMSCollection,YvesDemazeau,BoAn,JavierBajo,andAntonioFernández-Caballero(Eds.).SpringerInternationalPublishing,Cham,127139.127139.AngeloCroattiandAlessandroRicci.2020.MobileAppsasPersonalAssistantAgents:theJaCa-AndroidFrameworkforprogrammingAgents-basedapplica-tionsonmobiledevices.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems34,2(July2020).https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-020-09474-77AmalElFallahSeghrouchniandAlexandruSuna.2005.ClaimandSympa:AProgrammingEnvironmentforIntelligentandMobileAgents.SpringerUS,Boston,MA,95122.95122.MartinGriss,ReedLetsinger,DickCowan,MichaelVanHilst,andRobertKessler.CoolAgent:IntelligentDigitalAssistantsforMobileProfessionals-Phase1Retrospective.TechnicalReport.HPLTechnicalReport.ort.DagJohansen,KåreJ.Lauvset,RobbertvanRenesse,FredB.Schneider,NilsP.Sudmann,andKjetilJacobsen.2002.ATACOMARetrospective.Softw.Pract.Exper.32,6(May2002),605619.605619.FernandoKoch.2005.3APL-MPlatformforDeliberativeAgentsinMobileDevices.ProceedingsoftheFourthInternationalJointConferenceonAutonomousAgentsandMultiagentSystems(TheNetherlands)(AAMAS'05).ACM,NewYork,NY,USA,153154.153154.FernandoKochandIyadRahwan.2004.TheRoleofAgentsinIntelligentMobileServices.InProc.ofthe7thPacicRimInternationalWorkshoponMulti-Agents,PRIMA2004(Auckland,NewZealand),Vol.3371.115127.115127.FernandoLuizKochandIyadRahwan.2004.Classicationofagents-basedmobileassistants.InProceedingsoftheAAMASWorkshoponAgentsforUbiquitousComputing(UbiAgents)(NewYork,USA).).PattieMaes.1994.AgentsThatReduceWorkandInformationOverload.ACM37,7(July1994),3040.3040.C.Muldoon,G.M.P.O'Hare,R.Collier,andM.J.O'Grady.2006.AgentFactoryMicroEdition:AFrameworkforAmbientApplications.InComputationalScienceICCS2006,VassilN.Alexandrov,GeertDickvanAlbada,PeterM.A.Sloot,andJackDongarra(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,727734.727734.AndreaOmicini,AlessandroRicci,andMirkoViroli.2008.Artifactsinthemeta-modelformulti-agentsystems.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems17(3)(Dec.2008).2008).AnandRanganathanandRoyH.Campbell.2003.AMiddlewareforContext-awareAgentsinUbiquitousComputingEnvironments.InProceedingsoftheACM/IFIP/USENIX2003InternationalConferenceonMiddleware(RiodeJaneiro,(Middleware'03).Springer-Verlag,Berlin,Heidelberg,143161.143161.AlessandroRicci,MichelePiunti,andMirkoViroli.2011.EnvironmentProgram-minginMulti-agentSystems:AnArtifact-basedPerspective.AutonomousAgentsandMulti-AgentSystems23,2(Sept.2011),158192.158192.S.Russell,O.Doyle,andR.W.Collier.2017.DevelopingAndroidapplicationsusingagent-orientedprogramming.In201712thInternationalConferenceonIntelligentSystemsandKnowledgeEngineering(ISKE).17.17.JoaoSantos,JoelJ.P.C.Rodrigues,BrunoM.C.Silva,JoaoCasal,KashifSaleem,andVictorDenisov.2016.AnIoT-basedmobilegatewayforintelligentpersonalassistantsonmobilehealthenvironments.JournalofNetworkandComputerApplications71(2016),194204.204.YoavShoham.1993.Agent-OrientedProgramming.ArticialIntelligence(1993),5192.5192.AlexandruSunaandAmalElFallah-Seghrouchni.2005.AMobileAgentsPlat-form:Architecture,MobilityandSecurityElements.InProgrammingMulti-AgentSystems,RafaelH.Bordini,MehdiDastani,JürgenDix,andAmalElFal-lahSeghrouchni(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,126146.126146.YuWeihongandYanChen.2013.TheDevelopmentofJadeAgentforAndroidMobilePhones.InProceedingsofthe2012InternationalConferenceonInformationTechnologyandSoftwareEngineering,WeiLu,GuoqiangCai,WeibinLiu,andWeiweiXing(Eds.).SpringerBerlinHeidelberg,Berlin,Heidelberg,215222.215222.MichaelWooldridgeandNicholasR.Jennings.1995.Intelligentagents:theoryandpractice.TheKnowledgeEngineeringReview10,2(1995),115152. JAAMAS Track AAMAS 2021, May 3-7, 2021, Online 1726 !setup. 2 +!setup -makeArtifact"gps","GPSService",Id); focus(Id); makeArtifact"s

3 ms","SMSService",_). 7 +pos(Lat,Lon):nea
ms","SMSService",_). 7 +pos(Lat,Lon):nearbyHome(Lat,Lon,Res)&Res==True -sendSMS("Arrivedathome."). Figure1:Atrivialexampleofanappprogrammedasagent.relevantdependingonthespecicapplication.Inourcase,thisexibilityisachievedbymeansofartifacts,thatis:theagentcaninstantiatetheproperartifacts,eventuallyatruntime,dependingonwhatitneedstoperceive.Theagent-artifactinteractionmodelmirrorstheagentactionandperceptioncapabilities.Anartifactprovidesasetofoperationsthatcanbeconceivedasactionsontheagentside.So,byinstantiatinganartifact,thesetofactionsthattheBDIagentcandoisextendedwiththesetofoperationsprovidedbythatartifact.IntegrationwiththeDeviceContextandApplicationServices.inthecaseoftheusercontext,alsodevicecontextandfurtherappli-cationservicesprovidedbythemobileenvironmentbeingeitherfromtheAndroidframeworkitselforfromapplicationsinstalledonthedevicecanbemodeledandaccessedbyproperlydesignedartifacts.Tointeractwithexistingapplicationservices,artifactscanbeusedtowrapandhidelow-levelplatform-dependentcodeforenablinginteractionbetweendierentappsandmakeitpossibletoexploitservicesprovidedbyoneappfromanotherapp.ScalingwithComplexity.JaCa-Androidispossibletodesignthemobileappasamulti-agentsystem,involvingmorethanoneagentrunningonthemobiledevice,eventuallysharingthemobileenvironment:thisisobtainablebyspawningthemobileappasasystem.Also,itispossibletoconsiderthemobileappandthepersonalassistantagentaspartofalargerdistributedmulti-agentsystem.Inthiscase,JaCa-Androidallowstheexploitationofthedistributedinfrastructuresupportthatallowsforanagentrunningonsomedevice/nodesoinitsownMAStodynamicallyjoinandinteractwithanexisting-basedMAS.JACA-ANDROIDARCHITECTUREJaCa-Androidframeworkrunsontopofaruntime,extendingitwiththerequiredabstractionstomakeitpossiblethedesignandtheexecutionofMASsovertheAndroidplatform.InFigure2anabstractrepresentationofthecompleteframeworkisreported,startingfromtheAndroidFramework.ThetimeactuallyisbasedonruntimerunningtheBDIagentsandCArtAgOruntimemanagingtheartifact-basedenviron-ment[].Likeinthecaseof,theJaCa-AndroidisfullyJava-basedandrunsasanormalAndroidapp.Generallyspeaking,theJaCa-Androidframeworkcanbeusedasageneralpurposeframeworkfordevelopingandrunningmulti-agentsystemsonthetopoftheAndroidplatform.Besidesthisgeneralview,theframeworkhasbeenexplicitlydesignedtofa-cilitatethedevelopmentofpersonalassistantagents,runningonmobile(andwearable)devices.Tothispurpose,theframework Figure2:JaCa-Androidcoarse-grainedarchitecture.providesalayerofartifactswithfunctionalitiesusefultosupportcontext-awareness.Twomainexamplesareartifacts.Therstoneallowsagentstogetinfor-mationabouttheusercontext,includingwheretheuserislocated(i.e.thegeolocationobtainedbytheGPS),whattheuserislookingat(obtainedbythedevicecamera),tomentiontwomainones.Thesecondoneallowsagentstoobservechangesindevicesensorsvalues,e.g.,changesintheorientation(givenbytheaccelerometerorthegyroscope),changesrelatedtothelightsensor,andsoon.4RELATEDWORKSIntheliterature,severalworkshavebeenproposedtoenablethedevelopmentofgeneral-purposemobileapps/systemsusingexist-ingandwell-knownagentprogrammingplatforms.Agent-basedtechnologiesappliedinthecontextofmobilecomputingstartedmobileagent(MA)technologies[].Firstcon-creteexamplesinagentliteratureincludeinclude17].Inthecontextofthedevelopmentofintelligentagentsonmobiledevices,wecancitetheAgentFactoryMicroEdition()[]andtheANDROMEDAplatform[].Also,anotherattempttocombineagentsandAndroidistheproject[]Finally,aworkforportingtheASTRAagent-orientedlanguageontheAndroidplatform[25]isavailablefordevelopingcontext-sensitiveapps.5FINALREMARKSThispaperoersaglimpseoftheJaCa-Androidframeworkintermsof(1)theapproachproposedforthedesignofagent-basedmobileapps,and(2)itsinternalarchitecture.ThisisanextendedabstractofthefullpaperpublishedatJAAMAS[].Finally,itisworthclarifyingthatJaCa-Androidhasbeencurrentlyadoptedindevelopingreal-worldcasestudies,bothintheHealthcaredomain[11]andMixedRealitycontexts[12],forevaluationpurposes. JAAMAS Track AAMAS 2021, May 3-7, 2021, Online 1725 ProgrammingAgent-basedMobileApps:TheJaCa-AndroidFrameworkJAAMASTrackAngeloCroattiAlmaMaterStudiorumUniversitàdiBolognaa.croatti@unibo.itAlessandroRicciAlmaMaterStudiorumUniversitàdiBolognaa.ricci@unibo.itABSTRACTArelevantapplicationdomainforagent-basedsoftwareisgivenbysmartmobileapplications.Inthiscontext,theimpressiveprogressoftechnologiesmakesitpossibletoexploretheuseofagent-orientedprogramminglanguagesandframeworksbasedoncognitivear-chitectures.Accordingly,hereweprovideadescriptionofAndroid,aframeworkbasedontheplatformthatallowsfordesigningandprogrammingsmartmobileappsusingBDI-basedcognitiveagentswithintheconceptualmodel.KEYWORDSAgents;BDI;Android;;PersonalAgentsACMReferenceFormat:AngeloCroattiandAlessandroRicci.2021.ProgrammingAgent-basedMo-bileApps:TheJaCa-AndroidFramework:JAAMASTrack.InProc.ofthe20thInternationalConferenceonAutonomousAgentsandMultiagentSystems(AAMAS2021),Online,May37,2021,IFAAMAS,3pages.1INTRODUCTIONIntheliterature,relevantapplicationdomainsforagent-basedtech-nologiesandmulti-agentsystems(MAS)requirethepossibilitytorunsoftwareagentsonmobileandwearabledevices[Mainexamplesincludepersonalassistantagents[],context-awareapplications[]andsmartenvironments[].Fromanen-gineeringpointofview,theavailabilityofframeworksthatmakeitpossibletoexploitagent-orientedprogramming[]andmulti-agentprogramming[]tothispurposeisarelevantissue.Infact,thiswouldmakeitpossibletoexploitthelevelofabstractionandtheeectivenessofagentprogramminglanguagesandframeworksfortheseapplications.InthispaperwepresenttheapproachusedbyJaCa-Android,anopen-sourceagent-orientedframeworktodevelopagent-basedmobilesapps.TheJaCa-Androidframeworkisbasedontheplatform[].Briey,usingJaCa-Android,amobileappisdesignedasapersonalassistantagent,basedonthebelief-desire-intention(BDI)architecture[]andusingtheAgentsandArtifacts(conceptualmodel[]todesignthemobileapplicationenvironmentandtheusercontext.Inthesimplestcase,aJaCa-AndroidappcanbedesignedandprogrammedasacognitiveBDIagentequippedwithanenvironmentprovidingthefacilitiestomanagetheuserinterface(UI),toaccesstheusercontextandthedevice Availablehere: Proc.ofthe20thInternationalConferenceonAutonomousAgentsandMultiagentSystems(AAMAS2021),U.Endriss,A.Nowé,F.Dignum,A.Lomuscio(eds.),May37,2021,Online2021InternationalFoundationforAutonomousAgentsandMultiagentSystems(www.ifaamas.org).Allrightsreserved.context,aswellastoexploitthewholeAndroidframeworkandservices.Beyondthesimplestcase,theframeworkallowsscalinginlinewithmobileappcomplexity,bothbyallowingthedesignoftheappasafull-edgedMASandbyallowingfortheintegrationofthemobileappwithlargerdistributedmulti-agentsystems,eventuallyrunningondierentnodes.2MOBILEAPPSASAGENTSThemainobjectiveoftheJaCa-Androidframeworkistoprovideaneectiveagent-orientedapproachindesigningandprogram-mingmobileapps,tosupportthedevelopmentofagent-basedap-plicationsonmobile(andwearable)devices.Amongothers,mainfeaturesofJaCa-Androidare:toprovideaproper(agent-oriented)levelofabstractioninmodellingandexploitingthemobileenvironment,hidingasmuchaspossiblelow-leveldetailsconcerningtheAndroidcontextyetretainingthefullpowerofitsfunctionalities;toscalewithcomplexity,thatisprovideanAPIthatwouldmakeitpossibletoimplementsimpletasks/programsbymeansofsimpleagents,andintroducingcomplexity(multi-pleagents,complexenvironments)incrementally,byneed;tosupportaneasyandexibleintegrationwithexistinglibraries/services/technologiesavailableinthehost(mobile)environment;tosupportaseamlessintegrationwithindistributedMASapplications,runningonheterogeneoussystemscommuni-catingbymeansoftheInternetnetwork(sothatmobileandwearabledevicesareoneofthedierentsubsystems).Todealwiththesefeatures,inJaCa-AndroidamobileappisdesignedasacognitiveBDIagentexplicitlyconceivedasapersonaloftheuser(despitethespecicjob/task/applicationlogicoftheapp).Accordingly,thepersonalassistantagentcanbedesignedintermsofgoals,beliefs,andplans.Tointeractwiththeuserandwiththeexternalworldandtoaccomplishitsgoals,JaCa-AndroidprovidestheagentwithatoolboxofpredenedbesidestheonesthatthedevelopercanimplementusingtheCArtAgOprogrammingmodel[]atrivialexampleisreportedinFigure1.Dependingonthespecicappneeds,theagentcandynamicallyinstantiateandworkwithapropersetofartifacts.UserInteractionandContext.Therstaspecttoconsiderwhendesigningapersonalassistantagentishowtheagentcanobserveandinteractwiththeuser.Atthebasiclevel,theagentmustbeabletoperceive/observetheuserinputsandtheusercontext,aswellastowithhim.Theuserispartoftheenvironmentthattheagentperceives.Inourcase,adeveloperneedsstrongexibilityinchoosingwhatkindofuserinput/contextcouldbe JAAMAS Track AAMAS 2021, May 3-7, 2021, Online 172