Skip to main content
Log in

A robot decision making framework using constraint programming

  • Published:
Artificial Intelligence Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An intelligent robotic system must be capable of making the best decision at any given moment. The criteria for which task is “best” can be derived by performance metrics as well as the ability for it to satisfy all constraints upon the robot and its mission. Constraints may exist based on safety, reliability, accuracy, etc. This paper presents a decision framework capable of assisting a robotic system to select a task that satisfies all constraints as well as is optimized based upon one or more performance criteria. The framework models this decision process as a constraint satisfaction problem using techniques and algorithms from constraint programming and constraint optimization in order to provide a solution in real-time. This paper presents this framework and initial results provided through two demonstrations. The first utilizes simulation to provide an initial proof of concept, and the second, a security robot demonstration, is performed using a physical robot.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akers EL, Stansbury RS, Agah A (2006) Long-term survival of polar mobile robots. In: Proceedings of the 4th international conference on computing, communications and control technologies, Orlando, FL, 20–23 July 2006, vol II, pp 329–333

  • Bartak R (1999) Constraint programming: in pursuit of the holy grail. In: Proceedings of the week of doctoral students (WDS99), Prague, June 1999

  • Borning A (1981) The programming language aspects of ThingLab, a constraint-oriented simulation laboratory. ACM Trans Program Lang Syst 3(4): 353–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (2009) Current south pole weather data, obtained through the internet: http://www.astro.uchicago.edu/cara/southpole.edu/weather2.html, [accessed 21/12/2009]

  • Chun HW, Wong RYM (2004) CLSS: an intelligent crane lorry scheduling system. Appl Intell 20(2): 179–194

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Dechter R (1991) Constraint networks. In: Shapiro SC (eds) Encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Wiley, New York, pp 276–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Deris S, Omatu S, Ohta H, Samat P (1997) University timetabling by constraint-based reasoning: a case study. J Oper Res Soc 48(12): 1178–1190

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Georget Y (2009) Koalog constraint solver: fast constraint solving in Java, obtained through the internet: http://www.informaticians.org/fjcp2004/slides/georget/nii041025.pdf [accessed 21/12/2009]

  • Gogineni S, Prescott G, Braaten D, Allen C (2003) Polar radar for ice sheet measurements. In: Proceedings of the international geoscience and remote sensing symposium, Toulouse, France, 21–25 July, vol 3, pp 1607–1609

  • IBM (2009) IBM ILOG CP, obtained through the internet: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/integration/optimization/cp1/ [accessed 21/12/2009]

  • Kumar V (1992) Algorithms for constraint satisfaction problems: a survey. AI Mag 13(1): 32–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Lever J, Streeter A, Ray L (2006) Performance of a solar-powered robot for polar instrument networks. In: Proceedings of the 2006 international conference on robotics and automation, Orlando, FL, 15–19 May 2006, pp 4252–4257

  • Mackworth AK (1997a) Consistency in networks of relations. Artif Intell 8(1): 99–118

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Mackworth AK (1997b) Constraint-based design of embedded intelligent systems. Constraints 2: 83–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobile Robots Inc (2009) AmigoBot robot for education and collaborative research, obtained through the internet: http://www.activrobots.com/ROBOTS/amigobot.html [accessed 21/12/2009]

  • Pai DK (1989) Programming parallel distributed control for complex systems. In: IEEE international symposium on intelligent control, Albany, NY, 25–26 Sept 1989, pp 426–432

  • Pai DK (1991) Least constraint: a framework for the control of complex mechanical systems. In: The American control conference, Boston, MA, 26–28 June 1991, pp 615–621

  • Ray L, Price A, Streeter A, Denton D, Lever JH (2005) The design of a mobile robot for instrument network deployment in Antarctica. In: Proceedings of the 2005 international conference on robotics and automation, Barcelona, Spain, 18–22 April 2005, pp 2111–2116

  • RidgeSoft LLC (2009) Intellibrain-Bot educational robot. Obtained through the internet: http://www.ridgesoft.com/intellibrainbot/intellibrainbot.htm [accessed 21/12/2009]

  • Russel S, Norvig P (2002) Artificial intelligence: a modern approach. 2. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Stansbury RS (2007) Constraint-based task selection and configuration for autonomous mobile robots, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, July 2007

  • Stansbury RS, Agah A (2008) Autonomous mobile robot task selection and configuration using constraint satisfaction. In: Proceedings of the international conference on automation, robotics, and control systems, Orlando, FL, 7–10 July 2008, pp 103–109

  • Stansbury RS, Akers EL, Harmon HP, Agah A (2004) Survivability, mobility, and functionality of a rover for radars in polar regions. Int J Control Autom Syst 2(3): 334–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Syrjanen M (1998) Production management as a constraint satisfaction problem. J Intell Manuf 9: 515–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsang E (1993) Foundations of constraint satisfaction. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Mackworth AK (1994) Will the robot do the right thing? In: Proceedings of artificial intelligence, Banff, AB, May 1994, vol 138, pp 255–262

  • Zhang Y, Mackworth AK (2005) A constraint-based robotic soccer team. Constraints 7: 7–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard S. Stansbury.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stansbury, R.S., Agah, A. A robot decision making framework using constraint programming. Artif Intell Rev 38, 67–83 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-011-9241-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-011-9241-y

Keywords

Navigation