Note: The department offers multiple CS 286 seminar courses. This course is CS 286.2.

This course studies recent results in theories of multi-agent systems in areas such as robotics, economics and the Internet. The course uses material from control theory, probability and distributed computing.

The course begins with a detailed description of a few problems to which multidisciplinary skills can be applied. Example of problems include the design of an intrusion-detection and evacuation system in a Manhattan grid representing an area in a city with sensors along streets and at traffic lights. Another example is that of designing agents with limited state (e.g., ants) building a structure (e.g., an ant hill) from resources (e.g., sand and mud) found in a specified space.

The class studies theory and experimental results from different disciplines and evaluates the applicability of the results to these problems.

Participants will give talks on papers and discuss projects. The course has no exams and no problem sets. Grading for the course is on a pass/fail basis. The units for the course are 2-0-7. The course meets from 10 AM to Noon on Wednesdays in Jorgenson 287.