A Proposed Framework for Characterization of Robotic Systems

The plethora of approaches to planning and action in robotic systems calls for a unified framework onto which we can map various systems and compare their structure and performance. We propose such a thinking framework which allows us to examine these systems in a uniform way and discuss their adequacy for robotic problems. The inclusion of an environment specification in problem specifications is proposed as a means of clarifying a robot's abilities and creating a notion of context. Robotic systems are described as a set of strategies combined with a set of actuators.