Chapter 4 nem: a language for the representation of motor knowledge

The motor control problem is considered in the framework of knowledge representation, with special reference to motor knowledge. In the Al/Robotic world, a formal model for motor knowledge should fill up a gap between task planning and low level robot languages. Such a model should be able to “virtualize” the robot and the interaction with the environment so that the planner could produce (and rely on) high level abstract actions characterized by high autonomy and skill. The chapter discusses some general aspects about actions, actors, and scenes that inspired the definition of the NEM language for the representation and animation of humanoids in a scene. It is meant to provide a software laboratory for experimenting with action schemas.