A Concept of a Reliable Three-Layer Behaviour Control System for Cooperative Autonomous Robots

Especially in robotic applications with hardly accessible and unknown environments like deep-sea or space missions, two requirements are given: First, the robotic systems need to work reliably and, second, an autonomous operation would increase the efficiency a lot. While the demand for a reliable system behaviour could be satisfied through predefined and tested plans and models, the unknown environment impedes both. Presented is a concept of a reliable behaviour control system that is meant to be used in the context of a lunar or planetary space mission with a loosely-coupled group of autonomous robots. To realize a reliable system behaviour even in unknown environments, the proposed design follows a biologically inspired approach including adaptable prediction and self-evaluation components.