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SPARK -- A Generic Simulator for Physical Multiagent Simulations


Oliver Obst and Markus Rollmann. SPARK -- A Generic Simulator for Physical Multiagent Simulations. In Gabriela Lindemann, Jörg Denzinger, Ingo J. Timm, and Rainer Unland, editors, Multiagent System Technologies -- Proceedings of the MATES 2004, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pp. 243–257, Springer, September 2004.
Preliminary version appeared as Fachberichte Informatik 7/2004, Universität Koblenz-Landau.


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Abstract

In this paper we describe a new multi-agent simulation system, called Spark, for physical agents in three-dimensional environments. Our goal in creating Spark was to provide a great amount of flexibility for creating new types of agents and simulations. To achieve this, we implemented a flexible application framework and exhausted the idea of replaceable components in the resulting system. In comparison to specialized simulators, users can effortlessly create new simulations by using a scene description language. Spark is a powerful and flexible tool to state different multi-agent research questions. It is used as official simulator for the first three-dimensional RoboCup Simulation League competition. We present the concepts we used to achieve the flexibility in our system and show how we seamlessly integrated the different subsystems into one user-friendly framework.


BiBTeX Entry


@incollection{OR04b,
	Abstract = { In this paper we describe a new multi-agent simulation
		   system, called Spark, for physical agents in three-dimensional environments.
		   Our goal in creating Spark was to provide a great amount of flexibility for
		   creating new types of agents and simulations. To achieve this, we
		   implemented a flexible application framework and exhausted the idea of
		   replaceable components in the resulting system. In comparison to specialized
		   simulators, users can effortlessly create new simulations by using a scene
		   description language. Spark is a powerful and flexible tool to state
		   different multi-agent research questions. It is used as official simulator
		   for the first three-dimensional RoboCup Simulation League competition. We
		   present the concepts we used to achieve the flexibility in our system and
		   show how we seamlessly integrated the different subsystems into one
		   user-friendly framework.},
	Author = {Oliver Obst and Markus Rollmann},
	Booktitle = {Multiagent {S}ystem {T}echnologies -- {P}roceedings of
		   the {MATES} 2004},
	Editor = {Gabriela Lindemann and J{\"o}rg Denzinger and Ingo J. Timm
		   and Rainer Unland},
	Month = sep,
	Pages = {243--257},
	Publisher = {Springer},
	Series = lnai,
	Title = {{SPARK} -- {A} {G}eneric {S}imulator for {P}hysical
		   {M}ultiagent {S}imulations},
	Volume = 3187,
	Wwwnote = {
		   Preliminary version appeared as Fachberichte Informatik 7/2004,
		   Universit{\"a}t Koblenz-Landau.},
	Year = 2004,