Engineering Multi-Agent Systems through Statecharts-based JADE agents and tools

The JADE framework, which is one of the most used in the AOSEcommunity to program and execute multi-agent systems (MASs), still needs tobe further supported by methods and tools for enabling a more effectivemodeling and prototyping of JADE-based MASs. In this paper we propose aframework and a related tool supporting a Statecharts-based development ofJADE-based MAS with the purpose of providing an effective approach forengineering multi-agent systems and leveraging agent-oriented developmentmethodologies and processes adopting JADE as target agent platform. Inparticular, a framework for programming JADE behaviors through a variant ofthe Statecharts, named Distilled StateCharts (DSCs), has been first developedby enhancing the JADE add-on HSMBehaviour. Then, to enable rapidprototyping of JADE agents, a visual tool for DSCs has been extended withtranslation rules based on the developed framework that allows to automaticallytranslate DSC specifications into DSC-based JADE behaviors. The proposedapproach is exemplified through a case study concerning an agent-basedmeeting organization system.