Integrating sensors into a standard control architecture for robotic applications

The problem of the integration of sensors into a coherent system for robotic applications is addressed by presenting a standard robot control architecture, the NASA/NBS Standard Reference Model for Telerobot Control System Architecture (NASREM). NASREM has three hierarchies: a task decomposition hierarchy, a world modeling hierarchy, and a sensory processing hierarchy. Goals at each level of the task decomposition hierarchy are divided both spatially and temporally into simpler commands for the next lower level. This decomposition is repeated until, at the lowest level, the drive signals to the robot actuators are generated. In order to accomplish their goals, task decomposition modules must often use information stored in the world model, which always stores the best estimate of the state of the world. The sensory processing hierarchy must update the world model. The concepts of NASREM are presented with emphasis on the sensors required for advanced capabilities in robot control