PERSEUS Autonomy Architecture
Architecture under development to support the technical evaluation of autonomous ground behaviour, independent of any specific platform.
Overview
PERSEUS is an autonomy architecture under development intended to support the evaluation of SOP-informed autonomous ground behaviour under controlled conditions. The architecture comprises a perception module and a behavioural logic layer, and is designed to be evaluated independently of any specific vehicle or platform.
PERSEUS is presented for potential consideration within an Estonian Ministry of Defence-owned technical evaluation context, subject to MoD interest and direction.
Architectural Intent
The design intent of PERSEUS is to support autonomous behaviour that is informed by operator SOPs and mission practices, without issuing direct commands or actions.
Behaviour is biased rather than directed, allowing human operators and platform safety systems to retain authority at all times.
PERSEUS is designed to support evaluation in forested, mixed, and GPS-denied terrain environments representative of Estonia’s operating context.
The architecture prioritises explainability, auditability, and safety authority over performance optimisation.
Separation of Concerns
PERSEUS is built around a strict separation between perception, behavioural logic, and platform control.
Perception represents terrain, visibility, exposure, traversability, and uncertainty as effects rather than objects. Behavioural logic evaluates these effects in relation to mission intent and SOP-informed practices, producing behavioural bias rather than explicit control instructions.
Platform control and actuation remain outside the scope of the PERSEUS architecture and are handled by the host vehicle or control system.
Artificial intelligence within PERSEUS does not directly command actuators.
This separation is intentional and supports safety assurance, auditability, and controlled evaluation.
Architectural Model
Within the PERSEUS architecture, perception and behavioural logic are treated as independent architectural elements.
The perception component generates an effect-based representation of the environment, including terrain structure, occlusion, exposure, and uncertainty.
The behavioural logic layer applies SOP-informed reasoning to influence autonomous behaviour without encoding scripted tactics, rule-based behaviour trees, or doctrinal decision rules.
The physical platform is intentionally decoupled from PERSEUS. Integration with any vehicle or test platform is conducted solely for evaluation purposes.
Explicit Non-Claims
PERSEUS is not a finished product, a deployable system, or an operational capability.
It is not a weapons system, does not conduct autonomous combat, and does not replace human command or control.
No claims are made regarding performance, effectiveness, or operational suitability outside the context of a controlled technical evaluation.
Relationship to Phase-1 Evaluation
Any Phase-1 Technical Evaluation, if undertaken, would assess whether the PERSEUS architecture is technically credible and observable under controlled conditions relevant to Estonia’s operating environment.
Phase-1 would focus on behaviour, explainability, and safety characteristics. It would not validate performance, certify autonomy, or support procurement decisions.
Findings would inform whether further evaluation may be warranted — nothing more.
Closing Statement
PERSEUS exists to be evaluated, not adopted.
The architecture is presented for potential MoD consideration as a bounded learning construct, intended solely to reduce uncertainty around SOP-informed autonomous ground behaviour.
Further Information
For official enquiries relating to technical evaluation or defence experimentation, please refer to the Phase-1 Evaluation overview or contact Praesidium Defence via official channels.
