Planning based sensing and task executing in an autonomous machine

Implementing a control system for an autonomous machine is a challenging task. Several techniques have to be applied, such as task planning, hierarchical and/or distributed control, and advanced sensing techniques. In addition, to be useful these various techniques have to be integrated into a system that has to operate more or less in real-time. The authors present a control scheme based on hierarchically organized planning-executing-monitoring-cycles which is used to solve some of the problems related to real-time control of an autonomous machine. The implementation is also presented in which the control system is applied in a pilot system based on an industrial robot