Evaluation of hierarchical architectures

Evaluation of hierarchical architectures

Recall from Part I that there are four criteria for evaluating an architecture:
support for modularity, niche targetability, ease of portability to other domains,
and robustness. NHC and RCS both provide some guidelines in how

could be reused for a submarine, especially since RCS is not object-oriented.

In terms of robustness, RCS does attempt to provide some explicit mechanisms.

In particular, it assumes the Value Judgment module simulates a

plan to confirm that it should be successful when deployed. The use of simulation

is common for operating equipment in a well-known environment

where every piece of equipment is known. The most notable example is a

nuclear processing cell. With such detailed information, it is fairly straightforward

(although computationally expensive) to simulate whether a particular

course for a robot would collide with equipment and cause a spill.

This is a very limited form of robustness. The disadvantage is the time delay

caused by the robot mentally rehearsing its actions prior to executing them.

Simulation may not be appropriate for all actions; if a piece of the ceiling is

falling on the robot, it needs to get out of the way immediately or risk coming

up with the best place to move too late to avoid being crushed.