Intelligent Agent Toolset for 4D/RCS Architectures

There is an increasing demand for systems with more autonomous operations interacting with other autonomous and human-based systems. What is needed is an architecture bundled with developer tools for the creation of intelligent real-time control systems that marry the talents of modern control theory, software technology, sensory processing, and semantic knowledge representations. It would be a step closer to mimicking the human cognitive capabilities in a blended software/hardware system. 21st Century Systems, Inc. is pleased to propose to research and develop an intelligent agent toolset for 4D/RCS architectures. Our proposed research will use the 4D/RCS cognitive architecture and will extend it with a model which allows its interaction and integration with an intelligent agent-based AI environment. We believe that intelligent agents are a natural fit for the problem at hand. The hierarchical RCS architecture defined in 4D/RCS can be described very closely by a multi-agent system. This effort will lead to the development of an overarching architecture that will bridge the gap between intelligent agents and RCS. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: This effort will lead to the development of an overarching architecture that will bridge the gap between intelligent agents and RCS. There are many domains where this toolset can be used to improve manufacturing, production, and operations. In the case of manufacturing, we would target the manufacturers of industrial robots. This toolset would make it possible to make smarter and more flexible robots. The time and expense of acquiring large industrial robots for manufacturing and retooling is non-trivial. This toolset would make the robotic systems more flexible. Retooling and "tailoring" of the system's capabilities and actions would be quicker and much easier. The technologies germane to this toolset could also be applied to make autonomous systems smarter and more fault tolerant. Systems that operate in remote environments (space, underseas, etc.) require a large measure of autonomy in order to accomplish the mission successfully. The toolset technologies could be used to produce better remote systems (satellites, undersea vehicles, etc. _ and unattended sensors (antennas, security sensors, waning systems, etc.). A longer term goal, requiring more research, is the realm of evolutionary swarm behaviors to develop an improved " swarm of swarms" controlling technology.