Abstract: A Multiple-Agent Hybrid Control Architecture (MAHCA) uses agents to analyze design, and implement intelligent control of distributed processes. A single agent can be configured to control a local process and a network of agents can be configured to control more complex distributed processes. Multiple agents interact through messages and can be either permanent or temporary. The network of agents interact to create an emergent global behavior. The network of agents support construction of closed-loop, autonomous systems which react to comply with two degrees of freedom: (1) a logic degree of freedom (useful for implementing switching between modes of control) and (2) an evolution degree of freedom (useful for implementing particular modes of control). Global behavior is emergent from individual agent behaviors and is achieved without central control through the imposition of global constraints on the network of individual agent behaviors (the logic agent network).

Abstract: A Multiple-Agent Hybrid Control Architecture (MAHCA) uses agents to analyze design, and implement intelligent control of distributed processes. A network of agents can be configured to control more complex distributed processes. The network of agents interact to create an emergent global behavior. Global behavior is emergent from individual agent behaviors and is achieved without central control through the imposition of global constraints on the network of individual agent behaviors. Agent synchronization can be achieved by satisfaction of an interagent invariance principle. At each update time, the active plan of each of the agents in the network encodes equivalent behavior modulo a congruence relation determined by the knowledge clauses in each agents's knowledge base. The Control Loop and the Reactive Learning Loop of each agent can be implemented separately. This separation results in an implementation runs faster and with less memory requirements than an unseparated arrangement.