Integration of fuzzy scheduling into a planning framework

This paper presents an approach for the representation and handling of soft temporal constraints in a planning framework. It is achieved in two steps. The first one is the representation of soft temporal constraints by means of fuzzy subsets of a real timeline. And the second one is the successful integration of the temporal reasoning capabilities of a scheduler able to handle these constraints into a planning framework. Then, the result is a temporal planner able to handle ill defined temporal knowledge and to obtain flexible temporal plans, that is, plans whose branches may be safely rescheduled to react to unforeseen delays during their execution.