Autonomous surface cleaning device with multiple controllers

This invention describes a robot vacuum cleaner that uses two separate computer brains to operate. A main controller directs the robot's movement and cleaning, but a second "compliance" controller can temporarily take over, for instance, to stop the robot if it encounters an obstacle. The main controller can then issue a command to allow the robot to resume its original path, but the compliance controller isn't directly involved in this decision and simply stops its override.