1. The accountant who keeps the desert alive
Frank Herbert’s Dune returns one last time for this arc because the Fremen survive not by having unlimited water but by accounting for every drop. The desktop will survive not by having unlimited power but by accounting for every watt. The question is whether that accounting can be automated.
Entries 633 through 635 wondered about autonomous power budgeting, load shedding and task deferral, and what the capability needs from the desktop. This entry closes the arc.
2. What was learned
The autonomous power budgeting wondering gives the desktop four constraints:
- Autonomy fills the gaps between ground contact. Pre-planned modes are necessary but not sufficient.
- Load shedding and task deferral are practical responses if workloads are interruptible and priorities are defined.
- Power budgeting is a closed loop of sensors, models, actuators, and policy.
- Policy must bound the autonomy. Thresholds, priorities, time limits, customer guarantees, override, and recovery rules prevent the platform from overreacting or underreacting.
3. What was decided
The desktop will adopt autonomous power budgeting as a closed-loop capability with ground override. This means:
- The platform will monitor array output, battery state of charge, load currents, and eclipse predictions.
- It will forecast energy supply and demand over upcoming orbit phases.
- It will defer non-critical tasks to predicted surplus windows.
- It will shed low-priority loads when supply is constrained.
- It will enter a power-safe mode if the battery or array state threatens platform survival.
- Ground can override any autonomous power decision and can update thresholds and policy.
- All power budgeting events are logged and reported to ground.
4. Interaction with earlier arcs
The autonomous power budgeting arc connects directly to:
- the power reading arc: generation, storage, and distribution constrain what is possible;
- the autonomous radiation mitigation arc: throttling and relocation also reduce power demand;
- the compute migration arc: moving work between cells changes local power budgets;
- the thermal management arc: heaters are a major electrical load and a shedding target.
5. What remains open
The exact sensor suite, forecast models, and shedding thresholds depend on the chosen EPS, battery chemistry, and customer contracts. The wondering arc has set the strategy; detailed design comes later.
6. What this changes
- The autonomous power budgeting wondering arc is closed.
- The desktop inherits a closed-loop power budgeting capability with ground override.
- The next arc will design a test for power failure and brownout recovery.