Chapter 1 - Introduction and Overview

Abstract

Planning is the reasoning side of acting. It is an abstract, explicit deliberation process that chooses and organizes actions by anticipating their expected outcomes. This deliberation aims at achieving, as best as possible, some prestated objectives. Automated planning is an area of artificial intelligence (AI) that studies this deliberation process computationally. One motivation for automated planning is very practical: designing information processing tools that give access to affordable and efficient planning resources. Another motivation for automated planning is more theoretical. Planning is an important component of rational behavior. If one purpose of AI is to grasp the computational aspects of intelligence, then certainly planning, as the reasoning side of acting, is a key element for such a purpose. The challenge is to study planning not as an independent abstract process but as a fully integrated component of deliberative behavior. An important combination of the practical and theoretical motivations for automated planning is the study and design of autonomous intelligent machines. Such a study is of practical concern because some of the complex artifacts such as satellites and spacecraft require autonomy and deliberative behavior.