Setting up a Jason Agent on Top of ROS to Control an Autonomous UAV
Resumo
This paper describes the nuances related to properly setting up a Jason agent on top of the Robot Operating System (ROS) to control an autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) executing in a Gazebo simulation. To do so we refactor a previously developed search-and-rescue (SAR) UAV application with updated technology. We mainly address changing the interaction mechanism between the agent and ROS, i.e., the way that the agent interacts with its “physical body”. We also address using Docker technology to setup the design environment and speed up the design process. Our results showed that it can be challenging to adapt agents since different technologies have different setups and different compatibilities, but it comes with advantages such as scalability in agent programming and constant updates to work with different ROS versions.
Referências
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Cardoso, R. C., Ferrando, A., Dennis, L. A., and Fisher, M. (2020). An interface for programming verifiable autonomous agents in ros. In Bassiliades, N., Chalkiadakis, G., and de Jonge, D., editors, Multi-Agent Systems and Agreement Technologies, pages 191–205, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Dennis, L. A. and Fisher, M. (2023). Verifiable Autonomous Systems: Using Rational Agents to Provide Assurance about Decisions Made by Machines. Cambridge University Press.
Koubaa, A. (2017). Robot Operating System (ROS): The Complete Reference (Volume 2). Springer, 1st edition.
Menegol, M. S., Hübner, J. F., and Becker, L. B. (2018). Coordinated uav search and rescue application with jacamo. In Demazeau, Y., An, B., Bajo, J., and Fernández-Caballero, A., editors, Advances in Practical Applications of Agents, Multi-Agent Systems, and Complexity: The PAAMS Collection, pages 335–338, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Quigley, M., Conley, K., Gerkey, B. P., Faust, J., Foote, T., Leibs, J., Berger, E., Wheeler, R., and Ng, A. Y. (2009). ROS: An Open-source Robot Operating System. In Proc. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software.
Rafael H. Bordini, J. F. H. and Wooldridge, M. (2007). Programming Multi-Agent Systems in AgentSpeak using Jason. John Wiley Sons Inc.
Rao, A. S. (1996). AgentSpeak(L): BDI Agents Speak Out in a Logical Computable Language. In Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop on Modelling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW’96), 22–25 January, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, number 1038 in Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 42–55, London. Springer-Verlag.
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Silva, G. R., Becker, L. B., and Hübner, J. F. (2020). Embedded architecture composed of cognitive agents and ros for programming intelligent robots. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 53(2):10000–10005. 21st IFAC World Congress.
Silva, G. R., Hübner, J. F., and Becker, L. B. (2021). Active perception within bdi agents reasoning cycle. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, AAMAS ’21, page 1218–1225, Richland, SC. International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems.
Silvestre, I., Becker, L. B., Fisher, M., Hübner, J. F., and de Brito, M. (2025). Enhanced agent-oriented programming for robot teams. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 158:111390.
Silvestre, I., de Lima, B., Dias, P. H., Buss Becker, L., Hübner, J. F., and de Brito, M. (2023). Uav swarm control and coordination using jason bdi agents on top of ros. In Mathieu, P., Dignum, F., Novais, P., and De la Prieta, F., editors, Advances in Practical Applications of Agents, Multi-Agent Systems, and Cognitive Mimetics. The PAAMS Collection, pages 225–236, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Cardoso, R. C., Ferrando, A., Dennis, L. A., and Fisher, M. (2020). An interface for programming verifiable autonomous agents in ros. In Bassiliades, N., Chalkiadakis, G., and de Jonge, D., editors, Multi-Agent Systems and Agreement Technologies, pages 191–205, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Dennis, L. A. and Fisher, M. (2023). Verifiable Autonomous Systems: Using Rational Agents to Provide Assurance about Decisions Made by Machines. Cambridge University Press.
Koubaa, A. (2017). Robot Operating System (ROS): The Complete Reference (Volume 2). Springer, 1st edition.
Menegol, M. S., Hübner, J. F., and Becker, L. B. (2018). Coordinated uav search and rescue application with jacamo. In Demazeau, Y., An, B., Bajo, J., and Fernández-Caballero, A., editors, Advances in Practical Applications of Agents, Multi-Agent Systems, and Complexity: The PAAMS Collection, pages 335–338, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Quigley, M., Conley, K., Gerkey, B. P., Faust, J., Foote, T., Leibs, J., Berger, E., Wheeler, R., and Ng, A. Y. (2009). ROS: An Open-source Robot Operating System. In Proc. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software.
Rafael H. Bordini, J. F. H. and Wooldridge, M. (2007). Programming Multi-Agent Systems in AgentSpeak using Jason. John Wiley Sons Inc.
Rao, A. S. (1996). AgentSpeak(L): BDI Agents Speak Out in a Logical Computable Language. In Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop on Modelling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW’96), 22–25 January, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, number 1038 in Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 42–55, London. Springer-Verlag.
Silva, G. R. (2020). Active perception within bdi agents reasoning cycle with applications in mobile robots. Master’s thesis, Federal University of Santa Catarina.
Silva, G. R., Becker, L. B., and Hübner, J. F. (2020). Embedded architecture composed of cognitive agents and ros for programming intelligent robots. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 53(2):10000–10005. 21st IFAC World Congress.
Silva, G. R., Hübner, J. F., and Becker, L. B. (2021). Active perception within bdi agents reasoning cycle. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, AAMAS ’21, page 1218–1225, Richland, SC. International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems.
Silvestre, I., Becker, L. B., Fisher, M., Hübner, J. F., and de Brito, M. (2025). Enhanced agent-oriented programming for robot teams. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 158:111390.
Silvestre, I., de Lima, B., Dias, P. H., Buss Becker, L., Hübner, J. F., and de Brito, M. (2023). Uav swarm control and coordination using jason bdi agents on top of ros. In Mathieu, P., Dignum, F., Novais, P., and De la Prieta, F., editors, Advances in Practical Applications of Agents, Multi-Agent Systems, and Cognitive Mimetics. The PAAMS Collection, pages 225–236, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Publicado
29/09/2025
Como Citar
CALEGARI, Felipe da C.; SILVESTRE, Iago O.; HÜBNER, Jomi F.; BECKER, Leandro B.; BRITO, Maiquel de.
Setting up a Jason Agent on Top of ROS to Control an Autonomous UAV. In: WORKSHOP-ESCOLA DE SISTEMAS DE AGENTES, SEUS AMBIENTES E APLICAÇÕES (WESAAC), 19. , 2025, Fortaleza/CE.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 125-136.
ISSN 2326-5434.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/wesaac.2025.37531.
