Planning Ahead to Provide Scheduler Choice

ABSTRACT The DECAF agent architecture views the functions of \planning to achieve objectives" and \scheduling start times of speci c actions" as separate but interrelated agent components that may operate at di erent time scales. DECAF has a scheduler that selects actions at runtime based on a dynamic user-speci ed utility function that considers action quality, cost, and duration. To make good use of the intelligent scheduler, a planner must provide the scheduler with appropriate choices. Every autonomous DECAF agent also includes an HTN planner that designs plans to make use of the scheduler's intelligence. Previous contingency planners have focused on making a plan responsive to unmet preconditions or the value of certain runtime variables. We explore two new kinds of contingency planning: planning to allow the scheduler to make runtime choices about \pre-planned" alternative actions; and planning alternatives to maximize plan exibility when the scheduler responds to a changing user-provided utility function.

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