Logical sensor/actuator : knowledge-based robotic plan execution

Abstract

Complex tasks are usually described as high-level goals, leaving out the details on how to achieve them. However, to control a robot, the task must be described in terms of primitive commands for the robot. Having the robot move itself to and through an unknown, and possibly narrow, doorway is an example of such a task. We show how the transformation from high-level goals to primitive commands can be performed at execution time and we propose an architecture based on reconfigurable objects that contain domain knowledge and knowledge about the sensors and actuators available. We illustrate our approach using actual data from a real robot. 1 Introduction A large part of our world is unstructured and dynamic. This fact has been one of the leading obstacles to mass-quantity introduction of robots into everyday life. The variability of the world makes it impractical to develop detailed plans of actions before execution. The environment might change and thus invalidate the plan. It makes mo...