A Survey of Robustness in Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract—Nowadays, robustness is one of the several concepts that have to be considered when designing multi-agent systems. Thus, achieving robustness in multi-agent systems is of central importance. However, there is a clear lack of study of robustness in developing robust multi-agent systems in technical systems. In this paper, we provide a survey on robustness issues and mechanisms in multi-agent systems in diverse research fields. Afterwards, we suggest our interdisciplinary methodology, “Robust Multi-Agent System” (RobustMAS) to characterise robustness of multi-agent systems. RobustMAS poses a challenge to support the multi-agent system with mechanisms to keep the system at a desired performance level when disturbances and deviations from plan occur (robustness). Furthermore, RobustMAS proposes a new appropriate method to measure the robustness of such multi-agent systems. Keywords-Robustness; Survey; Multi-Agent Systems I