  A formalism is presented for computing and organizing actions for autonomous
agents in dynamic environments. We introduce the notion of teleo-reactive (T-R)
programs whose execution entails the construction of circuitry for the
continuous computation of the parameters and conditions on which agent action
is based. In addition to continuous feedback, T-R programs support parameter
binding and recursion. A primary difference between T-R programs and many other
circuit-based systems is that the circuitry of T-R programs is more compact; it
is constructed at run time and thus does not have to anticipate all the
contingencies that might arise over all possible runs. In addition, T-R
programs are intuitive and easy to write and are written in a form that is
compatible with automatic planning and learning methods. We briefly describe
some experimental applications of T-R programs in the control of simulated and
actual mobile robots.
