The cognitive controller: a hybrid, deliberative/reactive control architecture for autonomous robots

The Cognitive Controller (CoCo) is a new, three-tiered control architecture for autonomous agents that combines reactive and deliberative components. A behaviour-based reactive module ensures that the agent can gracefully handle the various real-time challenges of its environment, while a logic-based deliberative module endows the agent with the ability to "think ahead", performing more complex high-level tasks that require planning. A plan execution and monitoring module establishes an advisor-client relationship between the deliberative and reactive modules. We demonstrate CoCo in the context of space robotics-- specifically the control of a vision-guided robotic manipulator that can autonomously capture a free-flying satellite in the presence of unforeseen mission anomalies.