The Real-Time ObjectAgent Software Architecture for Distributed Satellite Systems

Abstract
The ObjectAgent system is being developed to create an agent-based software architecture for autonomous distributed systems. Agents are used to implement all of the software functionality and communicate through simplified natural language messages. Decision-making and fault detection and recovery capabilities are built-in at all levels. During the first phase of development, ObjectAgent was prototyped in Matlab. A complete, GUI-based environment was developed for the creation, simulation, and analysis of multi-agent, multi-satellite systems. Collision avoidance and reconfiguration simulations were performed for a cluster of four satellites.