HEX Programs with Action Atoms

HEX programs were originally introduced as a general framework for extending declarative logic programming, under the stable model semantics, with the possibility of bidirectionally accessing external sources of knowledge and/or computation. The original framework, however, does not deal satisfactorily with stateful external environments: the possibility of predictably influencing external environments has thus not yet been considered explicitly. This paper lifts HEX programs to ACTHEX programs: ACTHEX programs introduce the notion of action atoms, which are associated to corresponding functions capable of actually changing the state of external environments. The execution of specific sequences of action atoms can be declaratively programmed. Furthermore, ACTHEX programs allow for selecting preferred actions, building on weights and corresponding cost functions. We introduce syntax and semantics of acthex programs; ACTHEX programs can successfully be exploited as a general purpose language for the declarative implementation of executable specifications, which we illustrate by encodings of knowledge bases updates, action languages, and an agent programming language. A system capable of executing ACTHEX programs has been implemented and is publicly available

From causal theories to successor state axioms and STRIPS-like systems

We describe a system for specifying the effects of actions. Unlike those commonly used in Al planning, our system uses an action description language that allows one to specify the effects of actions using domain rules, which are state constraints that can entail new action effects from old ones. Declaratively, an action domain in our language corresponds to a nonmonotonic causal theory in the situation calculus. Procedurally, such an action domain is compiled into a set of propositional theories, one for each action in the domain, from which fully instantiated successor state-like axioms and STRIPS-like systems are then generated. We expect the system to be a useful tool for knowledge engineers writing action specifications for classical AI planning systems, GOLOG systems, and other systems where formal specifications of actions are needed

From Causal Theories to Successor State Axioms and STRIPS-Like Systems

We describe a system for specifying the effects of actions. Unlike those commonly used in AI planning, our system uses an action description language that allows one to specify the effects of actions using domain rules, which are state constraints that can entail new action effects from old ones. Declaratively, an action domain in our language corresponds to a nonmonotonic causal theory in the situation calculus. Procedurally, such an action domain is compiled into a set of propositional theories, one for each action in the domain, from which fully instantiated successor state-like axioms and STRIPS-like systems are then generated. We expect the system to be a useful tool for knowledge engineers writing action specifications for classical AI planning systems, GOLOG systems, and other systems where formal specifications of actions are needed. Introduction We describe a system for generating action effect specifications from a set of domain rules and direct action effec..