Characterizing performance guarantees for multiagent, real-time systems operating in noisy and uncertain environments

Autonomous robots offer the potential to conduct Counter-Weapons of Mass Destruction (C-WMD) missions in an efficient and robust manner. However, to leverage this potential, a mission designer needs to be able to determine how well a robot system will operate in the noisy and uncertain environments that a C-WMD mission may require. We are developing a software framework for verification of performance guarantees for C-WMD missions based on the MissionLab software system and a novel process algebra approach to representing robot programs and operating environments. In this paper, we report on our initial research for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in understanding what is required from a performance guarantee to give a mission designer the information necessary to understand how well a robot program will perform in a specific environment. We link this to prior work on metrics for robot performance. Using a simple mission scenario, we explore the implications of uncertainty in the four components of the problem: the robot program, and the sensors, actuators and environment with which the program is executed.