I.1.4.3. the nature of the environment
The environments of work are primarily the "problems" for
which the rational agents are "solutions".
Measurements of performance (or output), the environment, the
effectors and the sensors form what is called environment of work. In the
design of an agent, the first stage must always be the specification of the
environment of work.
If we consider the problem of an automatic taxi man, the task
to lead a car in its totality is extremely unlimited. There is no limit on the
number of the new combinations of the circumstances which can emerge.
I.1.4.3.1. Properties of the
environments of work
The environment of work can be:
1. completely or partially observable:
An environment of work is completely observable if the sensors
detect all the aspects which are depend on the decision-making while an
environment can be partially observable because of the noises and the existence
of sensors are less accurate.
If the following state of the area is completely determined by
the current state and the action carried out by the agent, then the environment
is deterministic; if not, it is stochastic.
2. episodical or sequential.
In an episodical environment of work, the experiment of the
agent is divided into atomic episodes. Each episode consists of the perception
of the agent and the realization of a single posterior action.
The episodes are independent from/to each other. In the
sequential environments, the current decision can affect the future
decisions.
3. static or dynamic:
If the environment can change when the agent is deliberating,
then the environment is dynamic for the agent, otherwise, the environment is
static.
4. discreet or continuous.
The distinction between discreet and continuous can apply to
the state of the medium, the way in which time is to handle, and to perceptions
and actions of the agent. A medium is discreet if it has a finished number of
perceptions and actions, such as the plays of the failures. But a taxi man
who is driving defines a continuous state and a problem of continuous time. The
image taken by digital cameras are discrete in a strict sense but are treated
like continuous representations of variable localizations and intensities.
5. Environment with individual agent or multi agents
An environment is with individual agent if there is only one
agent while an environment is with multi agents if there are several agents
working in competition or cooperation.
A multi agent environment is competitive when the agent B
seeks to maximize its measurement of output, which, according to rules'
minimizes the measurement of output of A. In a cooperative environment, each
agent seeks to maximize the measurement of output of all the other agents of
the environment. For example a system of medical diagnosis is in an environment
with individual agent while the player with the failures is in competitive
environment multi agents. In a communication system, the agents are in a
cooperative environment multi agents. The taxi men, by avoiding the faults and
the disturbances the ones with the others, are in a cooperative environment
with a certain competition because only one taxi must occupy a parking bay.
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