<title>Operator/system communication: an optimizing decision tool</title>

In this paper we address the problem of operator/system communication. In particular, we discuss the issue of efficient and adaptive transmission mechanisms over possible physical links.We develop a tool for making decisions regarding the flow of control sequences and data from andto the operator. The issue of compression is discussed in details, a decision box and an optimizingtool for finding the appropriate thresholds for a decision are developed. Physical parameters likethe data rate, bandwidth of the communication medium, distance between the operator and the system, baud rate, levels of discretization, signal to noise ratio and propagation speed of the signal are taken into consideration while developing our decision system. Theoretical analysis isperformed to develop mathematical models for the optimization algorithm. Simulation modelsare also developed for testing both the optimization and the decision tool box. 1 Introduction Data which is transmitted over a communication medium between the operator and the system, whichmight be a mobile robot, contains some form of redundancy. This redundancy can be exploited tomake economical use of the storage media or to reduce the cost of transferring the data and commandsover the communication network. One of the basic issues in the design of the presentation layer is todecide whether data is to be compressed before transmission or not. Many factors may affect making