An Experience of Engineering of MAS for Smart Environments: Extension of ASPECS

This paper presents a methodological approach for the engineering of Smart Environments based upon Multi-Agent Systems. This approach is an extension of an existing MAS methodology, namely ASPECS. The extension of ASPECS is allowed by the Situational Method Engineering principles underlying ASPECS and takes the form of several existing modified activities and corresponding meta-model elements. The key elements that are targeted by the contribution are: the identification of goals hierarchy, the expression of detailed requirements and associations of goals to sensors/effectors, different levels of ontologies to describe on the one hand, the problem conceptualization, and, on the other hand, the several involved expertness. The remaining, existing activities, refine the models in order to identify organizational structures/behaviours and theirs agentification. The approach is illustrated through a case study that consists in a platform dedicated to the Monitoring of patients with heart failures.