Autonomous planning in time-varying environments: a case study

A simulation of a specific example of an intelligent control system is described. The simulation includes a rich description of the environment in which the intelligent controller operates, including dynamic models of the physical systems under control. The primary goal of the modeling effort is to evaluate alternative real-time resource algorithms needed for certain planning tasks in stressing time-varying environments. The simulation permits investigation into high-level plan generation (e.g. object sequencing), which relies on a rather rich internal description of the operational environment. Simple sequencing algorithms have been developed and evaluated using the simulation. The model provides a tool suitable for addressing the interdependence of platform engineering parameters (acceleration, refire rate, field of view, range) and platform management (e.g. sequencing algorithm) and the resulting overall effectiveness