Using agent-based approach to tracking moving objects

This paper presents a multi-agent system architecture developed to track moving objects. This architecture consists of several software agents with similar architecture and functions. An object can move freely within a predefined area, which is divided into several sub-areas based on the number of agents used in the system. Each agent is responsible for a specified subarea. Agents are able to communicate with each other and to coordinate their activities by sharing their knowledge about the position of the moving object. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are utilized to locate the exact position of the moving object. A GPS receiver is placed inside the moving object and serves as a signal platform that provides the desired information about its location to each agent. The main purpose of this work is to develop agents that are able to interact with the users, who are interesting in tracking some objects, and to provide them with the exact position of a moving object. This paper provides the agents' architecture, design and implementations that enable them to cooperate and communicate with each other to track a moving object. A prototype is implemented, using the ZEUS toolkit.