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Dynamic Behavior Sequencing for Hybrid Robot Architectures

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Abstract

Hybrid robot control architectures separate planning, coordination, and sensing and acting into separate processing layers to provide autonomous robots both deliberative and reactive functionality. This approach results in systems that perform well in goal-oriented and dynamic environments. Often, the interfaces and intents of each functional layer are tightly coupled and hand coded so any system change requires several changes in the other layers. This work presents the dynamic behavior hierarchy generation (DBHG) algorithm, which uses an abstract behavior representation to automatically build a behavior hierarchy for meeting a task goal. The generation of the behavior hierarchy occurs without knowledge of the low-level implementation or the high-level goals the behaviors achieve. The algorithm’s ability to automate the behavior hierarchy generation is demonstrated on a robot task of target search, identification, and extraction. An additional simulated experiment in which deliberation identifies which sensors to use to conserve power shows that no system modification or predefined task structures is required for the DBHG to dynamically build different behavior hierarchies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Air Force Institute of Technology, 2950 Hobson Way, WPAFB, OH, 45433, USA

    Gilbert L. Peterson, Jeffrey P. Duffy & Daylond J. Hooper

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  1. Gilbert L. Peterson
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  2. Jeffrey P. Duffy
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  3. Daylond J. Hooper
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Correspondence to Daylond J. Hooper.

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This work was supported in part through AFRL/RYRN Lab Task 06SN02COR from the Air Force Office of Scientific research. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United State Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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Peterson, G.L., Duffy, J.P. & Hooper, D.J. Dynamic Behavior Sequencing for Hybrid Robot Architectures. J Intell Robot Syst 64, 179–196 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-010-9535-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-010-9535-3

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