Planning in a Continuous Domain - An Introduction

Abstract : This paper concerns the development of a model for planning over a domain of continuous actions. The envisioned world model consists of a set o piecewise defined functions of time, with critical points that are represented symbolically as instantaneous discrete events. The goal is represented as a point through which the world function must thread at some point in time. World functions are transformed by adding events at various points in time which transform the trajectories in the direction of the goal. As events are added, formulas relating the event times are added to the description of the world. The result is a partial order of events which represent a plan for 'forcing' the world function to achieve the goal. (Author)