Reducing Code Complexity in Hybrid Autonomous Control Systems

Modern control systems are limited in their ability to react flexibly and autonomously to changing situations by the complexity inherent in handling situations where many variables are present. We present an architecture based on a combination of agent programming and hybrid systems for managing high level decisions in such systems. Our preliminary case study concerns satellites maintaining geo-stationary orbits. This case study suggests that the complexity of the code of such a system increases much more slowly in the face of increasing complexity of the scenario, than in a more traditional approach based on finite state machines over controller options.