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Problem representation for refinement

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Abstract

In this paper we attempt to develop a problem representation technique which enables the decomposition of a problem into subproblems such that their solution in sequence constitutes a strategy for solving the problem. An important issue here is that the subproblems generated should be easier than the main problem. We propose to represent a set of problem states by a statement which is true for all the members of the set. A statement itself is just a set of atomic statements which are binary predicates on state variables. Then, the statement representing the set of goal states can be partitioned into its subsets each of which becomes a subgoal of the resulting strategy. The techniques involved in partitioning a goal into its subgoals are presented with examples.

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Guvenir, H.A., Akman, V. Problem representation for refinement. Mind Mach 2, 267–282 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454223

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454223

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