Modeling agents and their environment in Multi-Level-DEVS

Environments play an important role in multi-agent systems. They present the context agents operate in. When testing multi-agent systems by simulation, the environment and partly agents have to be modeled. We explore the potential of Multi-Level-DEVS to serve as a modeling formalism for agents, their environment, and the interaction between them. Multi-Level-DEVS combines a modular, hierarchical modeling with variable structures, dynamic interfaces, and explicit means for describing up- and downward causation between different levels of the compositional hierarchy. The modeling in Multi-Level-DEVS emphasizes the role of the environment to provide information for and enforce constrains on the situated agents. A smart meeting room scenario is modeled, and an approach aimed at recognizing user activities in smart environments is tested and evaluated in a simulation study.