Reflex control for safe autonomous robot operation

This paper describes the design of an autonomous, sonar-based world mapping system for collision prevention in robotic systems. Obstacle detection and mapping is performed as a task that competes with higher-level tasks for the robotʹs attention. All tasks are integrated within a hierarchy, organized and co-ordinated by schemes analogous to biological reflexes and fixed action patterns. It is illustrated how the existence of low-level reflex behaviours can enhance the survivability and autonomy of complex systems and simplify the design of complex higher-level controls like our autonomous sonar-based world mapping system.