6 ECTS credits
168 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1024120BNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Students must have followed 'Inleiding Artificiële Intelligentie' and 'Wiskunde: calculus en lineaire algebra' and 'Kansrekening en statistiek' and 'Algoritmen en datastructuren 1' and 'Structuur van computerprogramma's 1’, before they can enroll for ‘Agent-based systems’.
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Computer Science
Educational team
Pieter Libin (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
16 contact hours Lecture
28 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
12 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

In this course, we study the agent-based approach within the field of AI. Agent-based systems consist out of intelligent agents that aim to reach goals, where both collaborative and competitive settings are possible. The distributed nature of such systems requires a custom set of modelling and analyses techniques. Agent-based systems can be used to model a whole range of problems in a realistic way, such as for example financial markets. Furthermore, agent-based systems can be used to study human behavior and its influence, by means of simulation, something that is relevant for e.g. traffic and epidemics.  

Additional info

We require the students to have programming experience. 

During the first 8 weeks of the course, we teach theoretical and practical aspect of agent-based systems (HOC) and allow the students to process this material in exercise sessions (WPO). During these exercise sessions, the student can practice the theory and gain experience in programming agent-based systems. The last 4 weeks of the course are centered around a practical project, where the educational team (professor and assistant) actively guide the student to construct (design, implement and analyze) an agent-based system. 

Learning Outcomes

General competences

● Deep knowledge and understanding of intelligent agents. 

● The student is capable to formulate, implement, validate, and analyze agent-based systems. 

● The student is capable to critically assess a formal argument related to agent-based systems. 

● The student can analyze a problem and based on this analysis design and implement an agent-based system. 

● The student can search for, and process academic literature related to agent-based systems. 

● The student can communicate on an academic level, both in a written and oral way. 

 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 50% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Examen with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Projectwerk with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written exam: 50% of the total score 

Practical project: 40% of the total score 

Involvement during class: 10% of the total score 

The practical project concerns an assignment where students will design and implement an agent-based system, in groups of three students. The students will write a joint research paper (max. 5 pages) and present their work. During this presentation, the educational team will ask questions to assess the understanding of the covered methods and techniques. 

To take the written exam, the student needs to register for the practical project. 

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Artificial Intelligence: Default track (only offered in Dutch)