System Assistance in Structured Domain Model Development

In this paper, we introduce a domain modeling tool that supports users in the incremental and modular development of verified models of planning domains. It relies on a logic-based concept for systematic domain model construction that provides well-defined, safe operations for the union, extension, and refinement of already existing models. The system is equiped with a deductive component. It automatically performs the proofs necessary to guarantee both the consistency of single models and the safety of operations on models. By means of detailed examples, it is shown how the system has been used for the structured development of a model for a complex, safety-critical planning domain.