Human-managed, hierarchical control of multiple mobile agents

In this paper we describe MASC, a multiple agent supervisory control system which will provide a human supervisor with the capabilities to interact at various hierarchical levels with a multiple mobile agent system. This hierarchy of mediation allows the agents of the system to request assistance from the human when necessary. It also provides the supervisor with the ability to assume control of the agents when they enter a state from which they are incapable of self correction. We describe the levels of the mediation hierarchy, their implementations, and their system control implications. Our goal is to create a semi-autonomous system which successfully executes all feasible tasks