A real-time model of flexible tasks for mobile robotic applications based on a behavioural architecture

The design of complex mobile vehicle applications requires the combination of timing constrained activities with deliberate components. One of the main characteristics of the design is the flexibility. The system has to be adapted to the environment conditions and take actions depending on it. This influence is focused in the ability of the system to select the appropriate activity to be executed (depending on the available time) and to change its behaviour (depending on the environment information). The main goal of the paper is to characterise a model of tasks providing the required flexibility. The model has to be powerful enough to represent the functional and timing features of mobile robotic applications based on a behavioural architecture. Behavioural models have been largely used to represent advanced robotic systems which operate in uncertain dynamic environments combining information from several sensory sources and presenting different vehicle dynamics. The paper proposes the use of flexible tasks as a way to implement deliberative components in a behaviour architecture of a robot system and allows noteworthy run-time flexibility for introducing intelligent processes. Another important aspect considered in the paper is concerned with the relationship between the amount of time required by the tasks and the quality of the results obtained.