Intelligent control for perceptually attentive agents: The S* proposal

Abstract This proposal attempts to reconcile the successful behavior-based robot architectures with the results presented by Tsotsos (1995) which show that mechanisms which were anathema in the early behaviorist dogma, such as attention and goal-directed processing are perhaps necessary if vision is used as a major sensor. S ∗ is a conceptual strategy for control which facilitates these mechanisms. Further, a unique method for determining whether a particular S ∗ behavior collection can satisfy a given mission is described. A language for mission plan specification is defined permitting the integration of deliberative and reactive specifications and a proof procedure is sketched which can determine if a particular behavior set violates the timing and feasibility constraints of a specific mission.