Handoff Between Anomaly Detection and MPC

The precursor that the anomaly ensemble raises must become an action the MPC agent takes; Kronos defines that handoff precisely and safely.

From detection to action

Detecting a precursor is only half of L3's value; the other half is acting on it correctly. Kronos defines a precise handoff from the anomaly ensemble to the MPC agents so that a raised precursor produces a proportionate, validated response, not an ad hoc reaction. The handoff carries the precursor's class, localization, confidence, and estimated lead time.

Matching response to the precursor

The response depends on all four. A high-confidence magnet-quench precursor with seconds of lead time triggers an MPC-planned gentle ramp of field or current toward a safer point. A short-lead-time disruption or plug-collapse precursor triggers a pre-computed maneuver rather than an on-the-spot plan, because there is no time to optimize. A low-confidence or ambiguous precursor triggers the watch stage, tightened monitoring and corroboration, before any actuation change.

• Class -> which maneuver family applies (quench, disruption, plug, thermal)
• Localization -> which actuators and subsystems to act on
• Confidence -> watch stage vs act stage; how much to tighten the envelope
• Lead time -> planned MPC ramp vs pre-computed instant maneuver

The envelope is the mediator. On a credible precursor, L3 shrinks the safe operating envelope toward the precursor's cause, and MPC, already constrained to stay inside the envelope, naturally steers away. This means the handoff mostly works through the existing MPC machinery rather than a separate override path, which keeps behavior consistent and analyzable.

The floor remains hardware

If the precursor is too fast for any L3 maneuver, the handoff defers to the L1 layer, pre-computed fast maneuvers for the millisecond regime, and the autonomous hardware failsafe for the microsecond regime. The anomaly-to-MPC handoff exists to make those last resorts rare by acting earlier; it never substitutes for them, and it never weakens the hardware guarantee.