Logic programming for deliberative robotic task planning

TL;DR

This paper surveys recent advances in applying logic programming to robotic task planning, highlighting its advantages in expressivity and interpretability for developing safe, reliable, and autonomous robots.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of various logic programming planners, comparing their suitability for robotic applications based on expressivity, efficiency, and implementation.

Findings

Logic programming enhances expressivity in robotic planning.

Different planners suit specific applications based on their features.

Logic programming contributes to safer and more reliable robot behavior.

Abstract

Over the last decade, the use of robots in production and daily life has increased. With increasingly complex tasks and interaction in different environments including humans, robots are required a higher level of autonomy for efficient deliberation. Task planning is a key element of deliberation. It combines elementary operations into a structured plan to satisfy a prescribed goal, given specifications on the robot and the environment. In this manuscript, we present a survey on recent advances in the application of logic programming to the problem of task planning. Logic programming offers several advantages compared to other approaches, including greater expressivity and interpretability which may aid in the development of safe and reliable robots. We analyze different planners and their suitability for specific robotic applications, based on expressivity in domain representation, computational efficiency and software implementation. In this way, we support the robotic designer in choosing the best tool for his application.