Uma proposta de desenvolvimento de uma técnica de elicitação de requisitos para sistemas multiagentes com ênfase no Modelo BDI

Abstract

One of the most important aspects of Requirements Engineering (RE) - a software engineering subfield - is the requirements elicitation process. An error or a misinterpretation in the process of requirements elicitation can cause major problems such as delaying, impacting the cost of the software or even causing a total project failure. Multiagent systems are used as an alternative to solve complex problems by dividing this complexity among several software agents. However, like all other software, multiagent systems also suffer from the same requirements elicitation problems. Although, some requirements for multiagent systems have particular characteristics that allow, for example, to defines the agents beliefs, desires, and intentions. These special features can be represented by the BDI model. Taking into account the importance of eliciting requirements, we developed a systematic review in order to, from the results obtained, analyzing and understanding how the elicitation techniques for currently existing multiagent systems are applied, what are their particular characteristics and whether any of them cover the elicitation of requirements for the BDI model. Based on this systematic review, we realized the need to prepare a proposal for a new technique for eliciting specific requirements for multiagent systems with a focus on the BDI model, considering that existing techniques do not support this model, they are not intuitive and are difficult to apply. Finally, we validate the proposed technique by applying an interview aiming to elicit requirements for a multiagent package delivery system.