A catalogue of multi-agent system patterns to design Digital Twins considering Quality attributes

Abstract

Digital twins (DTs) are based on a set of DT properties that are the fundamental characteristics that determine how a DT represents, reflects, memorizes, and interacts with its physical counterpart within a specific usage context. The DT properties are the cornerstone to provide DTs with higher quality. Despite the increasing adoption of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) in DT development, there is a lack of structured guidance on how agent design can support the development of these DT properties. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a catalogue of agent design patterns tailored to support the reflection, memorization and entanglement properties of a DT. Each pattern is aligned with established design patterns in MAS literature. Decision models are also introduced to guide practitioners in selecting appropriate patterns based on the essential aspects of each property. The proposed patterns and design models were applied in a real-world case study involving the design of a DT to manage study sessions for children with ADHD, illustrating their applicability in a case study. The results support the feasibility and utility of our catalogue of design patterns for the development of the selected DT properties that are relevant to provide DT with quality characteristics.