Agent Types & Capabilities

CDM develops applications and services using software modules known as intelligent agents. These agents help users by processing large-scale data without requiring constant user interaction.

Our intelligent agents can:

• Analyze and translate complex data into manageable information.

• Validate operational data against enterprise-standard information.

• Suggest multiple courses of action for complex operations.

• Monitor and react to information updates.

Proven Systems

CDM’s multi-agent systems have supported command and control logistics for the Department of Defense, assisted supply chain operations for international enterprises, and enhanced search and validation technology for the federal government. To learn more about CDM systems, visit our Products page.

Agent Types

CDM currently develops four general types of intelligent agents (i.e., Message, Service, Planning, and Mentor), which are described below in the context of a generic shipping and tracking software system.

• Message Agents

Message Agents can generate messages about the state of operational data, requirements, or conditions. They can then deliver those messages to other agents or human users for processing.

In a shipping and tracking application, a Message Agent receives and monitors updates to planning or tracking variables. These updates, which can include changes in weather conditions, availability of supplies and conveyances, or shipment requirements, are sent to other agents for analysis of the potential impact on planned shipment schedules.

• Service Agents

Service Agents can receive information updates from Message Agents, or they can search for information updates on their own. Unlike Message Agents, Service Agents can process the updated information autonomously or with assistance from users.

In a shipping and tracking application, a Service Agent receives updates of shipment planning variables from a Message Agent or continuously searches various databases for updates. After receiving updates, the Service Agent checks whether these updates affect the current schedule of shipments. If shipments are affected, a Service Agent could determine if the updates create new conflicts or resolve existing problems.

• Planning Agents

Planning Agents can process and monitor multiple data variables in order to determine the feasibility of a given scenario.

In a shipping and tracking application, a Planning Agent generates a feasible shipping schedule based on the latest planning variables. In coordination with a Service Agent, the Planning Agent collects the shipping requirements, confirms the availability of supplies and conveyances, and then calculates the travel time, fuel, labor, and other factors involved in a delivery. If a feasible plan cannot be generated, the user would be notified or a Mentor Agent (see below) would generate suggestions toward the resolution of such conflicts.

• Mentor Agents

Unlike other agents, a Mentor Agent has the ability to represent abstract concepts such as mobility or threat, complex notions such as weather conditions, virtual entities such as a simulated supply route during a planning process, and physical objects such as a M1A1 tank during a deployment or in the battlefield. Equipped with these processing capabilities, a Mentor Agent monitors the status of real-world entities and, in the event of a status change, formulates an alert or request for services that it then either broadcasts or sends to other agents and/or humans for processing. This ability to request services greatly increases the potential for concurrent activities as a Mentor Agent can request different services simultaneously.

In a shipping and tracking application, a Mentor Agent can be programmed to monitor the status of cargo items. Should a truck incur a fuel leak while in-transit, a Mentor Agent would be able to automatically register the fuel loss, hypothesize that such a loss might be due to a tank leak, recognize the hazards violation that a potential leak poses, alert the ship’s crew, other Mentor Agents, and Service Agents to both the loss of fuel and the potential hazards violation, and generate a work request to inspect or repair the damaged truck.