Multi-agent systems (MAS) offer an approach to solve complex problems where data and control are inherently distributed among several agents. Normally, agents have to cope with conflicts based on inconsistent knowledge which arise when they exchange information. A relative common…

This paper compares two well known scan matching algorithms: the MbICP and the pIC. As a result of the study, it is proposed the MSISpIC, a probabilistic scan matching algorithm for the localization of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The…

Can you imagine a useful task you would like a social robot to perform for you? This paper presents an Internet survey where participants were asked this question to identify applications for social robots. The applications mentioned by the participants…

In this paper we present a novel approach to assigning roles to robots in a team of physical heterogeneous robots. Its members compete for these roles and get rewards for them. The rewards are used to determine each agent’s preferences…

In the last decade competitions proved to be a very efficient way of encouraging researchers to advance the state of the art in different research fields in artificial intelligence. In this paper we focus on the optional task of the…

Nowadays, deploying service robots and adapting their services to a new environment is a task which might require several days. This is an important problem of robotics in general, but specially when the goal is to bring robots to our…

This special issue of the Journal of Physical Agents is devoted to multi-robot systems. Some might perhaps argue that the term should have been ”multi-agent systems” or ”physical multi-agent systems”, in accordance with the title of the journal. In any…

This paper briefly introduces a summary of the special session on Hybrid Reasoning and Coordination Methods on Multi-Agent Systems, held in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems 2009 (HAIS’09). The research papers of this session…

This special issue of the Journal of Physical Agents is devoted to human interaction with domestic robots. The form, features and future, of domestic robotic devices, from entertainment-based agents through to robotic cleaners, companions, assistants and helpers, are considered and…

The Workshop of Physical Agents intends to be a forum for information and experience exchange in different areas regarding the concept of agent on physical environments, especially applied to the control and coordination of autonomous systems: robots, mobile robots, industrial…