Computer scientists at the University of Southampton in the U.K.
have developed a system of computerized agents that can manage
energy use and storage in homes. Having already developed agents
that can trade on the stock market and manage crisis
communications, a team of researchers, led by Alex Rogers and
Nick Jennings at the University of Southampton's School of
Electronics and Computer Science, have now developed an agent-
based micro-storage management technique that allows homes to
adapt their energy use to match market conditions. The ultimate
aim of this system is to optimize individual electricity usage
and storage, in order to improve efficiency of the electricity
grid and to reduce emissions. The system, developed by Krishnen
Vytelingum, Thomas Voice, and Sarvapali Ramchurn, is outlined in
the paper Agent-based Micro-Storage Management for the Smart
Grid, which has been nominated for the Best Paper Award at the
International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent
Systems (AAMAS 2010), which w