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Abstract:
For robots to interact naturally with people and their environment they need to have a variety of perceptual abilities. They need to be able to see, hear, feel and otherwise sense the world around them. The problem is not giving them the sensors, but rather giving them the ability to process and use the sensory information in' real time. We have developed a platform independent modular sensory architecture that permits us to smoothly integrate multiple sensors, navigation, and communication systems. The architecture gives each module local control over a sensor or system. These modules act as filters between the sensor and a central controller that reacts only to higher level information and gives only high level commands. Using this architecture on multiple, communicating robots we were able to develop a unique trio of characters for the AAAI Hors d'Oeuvres Anyone event as well as an entry in the Urban Search and Rescue event.