Introducing Actions into Qualitative Simulation

Abstract

Many potential uses of qualitative physics, such as robot planning and intelligent computeraided en~ineering, require integrating physics with actiOns taken by agents. Here we show how to extend qualitative simulation to include the effects of actions, resultin~ in action-augmented envi&ionmenb. The actiOnaugmented envisionment incorporates both the effects of an agent's actions and what may happen in the physical world whether or not an agent does something. Consequently, it provides a richer basis for planning and for reasoning about procedures than any previous representation. This paper defines actionaugmented envisionments and presents an algorithm for directly computing them. The properties of the algorithm are analyzed along with its suitability for robot planning and reasoning about engineering procedures. We describe results $enerated by a working imJ?lementation and diScuss potential extensions, mcluding incremental algorithms.