Incorporating Spatial Representations at Multiple Levels of Abstraction in a Replicated Multilayered Architecture for Robot Control

Abstract

This paper discusses how spatial information at multiple levels of abstraction is used in ATLAS, a multilayered replicated architecture for robot control. ATLAS was specifically designed to address the real-time requirements of robot systems executing complex tasks in real-world environments. The architecture is multilayered in the sense that robot system control is performed at multiple levels of abstraction and at varying control rates, and it is also replicated, meaning that the fundamental activities of sensing, decisionmaking, and execution occur at each layer of the architecture. ATLAS differs significantly from many other robot control structures in that the layers of the architecture are not ordered along increasing levels of abstraction of the information being processed, but are rather organized as a multirate control system. Consequently, the faster control layers operate closer to the physical robot system and the slower control layers operate on top of faster ones. This arrangement allows ATLAS to respond to urgent control demands in real-time,