Subsumption architecture is a layered control method for autonomous agents in which simple reactive behaviours are stacked, with higher layers able to suppress or override lower ones to produce competent behaviour without a central world model.
Semantic Classification
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- Each layer in a subsumption architecture couples sensing directly to action for one behaviour, such as avoiding obstacles or wandering. Layers run concurrently, and arbitration lets higher-priority behaviours inhibit lower ones, giving reliable real-world performance from tightly coupled perception and action.
- The approach influenced behaviour-based robotics and feeds into swarm and multi-agent systems where many simple agents produce collective competence. It contrasts with deliberative planning that depends on a maintained internal model.