Multiagent-based ABC Algorithm for Dynamical Environment: Toward Cooperation among Autonomous Rescue Agents

Abstract

This paper proposes Multiagent-based Artificial Bee Colony (M-ABC) algorithm by improving ABC algorithm for dynamical environments without using global information (i.e., local information only), and investigates its effectiveness on cooperation among rescue agents in dynamic disaster environments, which requires to quickly and efficiently find victims. Intensive simulations on the victim rescue in RoboCup Rescue Simulation System (RCRSS) have revealed the following implications: (1) M-ABC algorithm can rescue victims faster than the full search method as the conventional method. In particular, M-ABC distance (as one of the proposed M-ABC algorithms) can derive the highest performance; (2) M-ABC distance can keep high performance even in dynamical environments where victims move elsewhere; and (3) M-ABC distance can completely rescue victims in dynamical environments, while Ri-one method as the 2012 champion of RoboCup Rescue Simulation League (RCRSL) cannot in such a case.