Embedding reactive hardware agents into heterogeneous sensor networks

Information fusion systems can be improved by developing solutions that integrate distributed intelligent systems with context-aware technologies. In this sense, Wireless Sensor Networks is a key technology for gathering remote and heterogeneous context information. However, it is not easy to integrate devices from different technologies into a single network. Distributed architectures, such as Multi-Agent Systems, can facilitate integrating such heterogeneous devices. In addition, Multi-Agent Systems expand the sensors´ context-aware capabilities changing their behavior dynamically and personalizing their reactions. This paper presents the new Hardware-Embedded Reactive Agents (HERA) platform, that allows developing information fusion applications where agents are directly embedded in heterogeneous wireless sensor nodes with small resources.