SYMBAD—Similarity based agents for design Daniel Pinho * , Adriana Vivacqua, Se ´rgio Palma, Jano de Souza COPPE/UFRJ, Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Abstract This paper presents the SYMBAD (similarity based agents for design) system, exploring multi-agent aspects in an architecture com- pany, capturing, cataloging, and communicating information produced by the team members. The main task managed by the designers is to build stands to present the image of a company, project its presence in the market and emphasize the corporate identity to all pros- pects. From conceptual design to the construction of a final product, a stand project passes through many hands, each one adding bits and pieces until it is completed. Reuse of materials and ideas is less feasible as design complexity increases. The processes and problems in stand projects are quite common and can be easily found in other design situations. We present an agent framework to improve process awareness in an architecture company. The agents instrument the process to produce global awareness, to facilitate reuse and optimize the process as a whole. In this paper we present the agent architecture, as well as each agent’s general functioning and reasoning rules. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Collaborative design; Agent systems; Case based reasoning 1. Introduction The SYMBAD (similarity based agents for design) sys- tem is a solution for managing architectural designs and intends to be a configurable and extensible infrastructure integrating the work among designers and constructors of event stands. This project, established in Rio de Janeiro, is a platform for the generation and execution of integrated models of stands, enhancing communication and knowl- edge management in a sustainable development environ- ment, through the use of multi-agent technology, which maintains the awareness needed for the fulfillment of the design tasks. In a case study of an architecture company, we identified some problem areas that could be addressed and that are present in other segments and companies. The main prob- lem in this type of company is that there are disjoint work groups, and, even though work done by one group (design) defines the work that will be done by the other (physical project); there is little communication between them. There is no feedback from the second group as to what could be improved or what has generated problems for them. This lack of awareness of the project as a whole often generates materials waste, delays and similar project difficulties. We have devised an agent-based system to provide a seamless way of integrating the different teams involved and promoting information exchange and awareness of the process as a whole. Agents work with available infor- mation about the users’ tasks and their current work and provide information on potential problems of the current design. The intent is to cause as little impact as possible on the way designers work, but to promote changes in their way of designing. Ideally, designers would learn about the consequences of their design choices and about the poten- tial problems they may cause in the later stages of the pro- ject, and would design in a more informed way. We will be implementing this system in our case study company and verifying if the new knowledge brings about changes in the designs produced and the designers’ way of thinking. We begin by presenting some background work and then go on to describe our case study, H. Camargo Promotional 0957-4174/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2006.01.040 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: dpinho@centroin.com.br (D. Pinho), avivacqua@ cos.ufrj.br (A. Vivacqua), palma@cos.ufrj.br (S. Palma), jano@cos.ufrj.br (J. de Souza). www.elsevier.com/locate/eswa Expert Systems with Applications 31 (2006) 728–733 Expert Systems with Applications