An ACS continuously collects a large number of inputs, including positional and environmental data from external sensors, state data about aircraft components and controls, and desired flight objectives and other control information. Overall flow resembles that maintained, for example, in neural network designs. For example the state of a wing is obtained from sensors, not just assumed to be what its last effector command requested. The functional form of flow in an ACS is transformational .
Information continually changes form across paths from input to output.
To be useful, nearly every representation across the overall flow of an ACS must be transformed according to some kind of filtering or conversion algorithm. To carry out its functionality, an ACS must maintain coherent, accurate models of the world. In an ACS, there is scarcely even an alternative to this structure. These properties may be used to generate outputs in any of several ways. It would be inconceivable to construct a set of components that merge all possible combinations.