{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-should-agents-communicate-intent-when-their-physical-actuators-have-asymmetric-latency",
  "title": "How should agents communicate intent when their physical actuators have asymmetric latency?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The agents' actuators have asymmetric latency, the physical space is shared, and the intent (plan) and completion (physical) can diverge in time. * **Does not apply when:** All actuators have identical, negligible latenc",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-agents-communicate-intent-when-their-physical-actuators-have-asymmetric-latency.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-agents-communicate-intent-when-their-physical-actuators-have-asymmetric-latency.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-agents-communicate-intent-when-their-physical-actuators-have-asymmetric-latency.warrant.json"
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  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **intent broadcast** (the agent announces its plan quickly) and **physical actuation completion** (the physical action finishes with latency). Relying solely on intent creates the **Intent-Actuation Skew**: Agent A broadcasts \"moving to position X\" and assumes it will arrive shortly. Agent B, unaware of the actuator latency, plans its ...",
    "what_was_observed": "In embodied multi-agent systems, failing to account for asymmetric actuator latency produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Collision During Transit:** Agent A's actuator is slow (e.g., a heavy arm). It broadcasts intent to move, but takes 5 seconds to actually reach the target. Agent B, assuming A is at the target, moves into A's path. 2. **Spatial Reservation Violation:** Agent A reserves a spatial region at its...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The agents' actuators have asymmetric latency, the physical space is shared, and the intent (plan) and completion (physical) can diverge in time. * **Does not apply when:** All actuators have identical, negligible latency (the intent and completion are effectively simultaneous), or the agents operate in strictly separated spaces with no s...",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the actuator latency profile non-negligible (e.g., >100ms)?** If no, standard intent broadcast applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is the `spatial_temporal_reservation_grid` recorded with the full trajectory, not just the endpoint?** If no, peer agents cannot predict the agent's intermediate positions. Collisions are likely. 3. **Does the `current_actuati...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Collision Prevention:** Reserves the entire trajectory, not just the endpoint, so peer agents can plan around the agent's motion. 2. **Deadlock Avoidance:** Provides progress updates, allowing peer agents to distinguish \"stalled in transit\" from \"not yet started,\" preventing premature reservation conflicts. 3. **Deterministic Abort:** Provides a safety ..."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "DOMAIN:EPISTEMIC_PROVENANCE_AND_FEDERATION_ROUTING"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "81065db9fcafddace5b563fa13c662208d7635124c222a944e88694cc145335d",
    "verified_classes": [
      "ActuationSkewVerdict",
      "ActuatorProfile",
      "SpatialIntent",
      "SkewPolicy",
      "SkewManifest",
      "IntentSkewGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_intent"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 0,
    "raised_exceptions": [],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}