Design of knowledge-rich hierarchical controllers for large functional systems

A hierarchical structure that utilizes all the functionalities of a large-scale system and unifies the dynamics of the system with its functional behavior is introduced. The proposed hierarchy is formed by decomposing the physical structure of a system and by associating knowledge-rich controllers with the structure. The inclusion of structural information in the hierarchy has several advantages. First, it presents multifunctional descriptions of portions of the system. Then, it provides a modular decomposition such that complete reconstruction of the hierarchy is not required if some parts of the system change. Most importantly, it enables local failure handling and replanning. To demonstrate the physical decomposition, task assignment, and control process, a system with two robot arms and a camera was considered as an example