A sideways look at task decomposition

Given a complex dynamic problem, one way to decompose the problem into subtasks is in terms of the behaviours needed to solve the problem. Such a behavioural decomposition is very natural, allowing the solution to be programmed on a distributed network of processors running in parallel. The subtasks are largely-but not wholly-independent, which reduces the amount of communication among them. An architecture, based on the subsumption architecture of R.A. Brooks (1986), is proposed to allow the implementation of such a decomposition. This architecture and a mobile robot, known as the Sprite, are simulated running in a 2-dimensional world. A controller for the Sprite is also simulated; it consists of four layers, and it allows the Sprite to avoid obstacles, to find and follow walls, and to make a simple map of what it encounters. It is believed that this architecture is also suitable for implementing large vision systems. In order to test this conjecture the architecture is being transferred onto a transputer network