An introduction to autonomous control systems

The fundamental issues in autonomous control system modeling and analysis are identified and briefly discussed, thus providing an introduction to the research problems in the area. A hierarchical functional autonomous controller architecture is also presented. A hybrid approach to the modeling and analysis of autonomous systems is proposed. This approach would incorporate conventional control methods based on differential equations and new techniques for the analysis of systems described with a symbolic formalism. In this way, the well-developed theory of conventional control can be fully utilized. It is stressed that autonomy is the design requirement, and intelligent control methods appear. at present, to offer some of the necessary tools for achieving autonomy. A conventional approach may evolve and replace some or all of the `intelligent´ functions