Constructing Teleo-reactive robot program

This paper addresses the problem of synthesising programs for teleo-reactive robots. A robot of this kind possesses an internal ruleset, or program, which determines how it reacts to external stimuli. Although the robot possesses no inherent goal, its program is designed so as to predispose it towards achieving some overall desired effect, possibly in cooperation with others. It will usually have only a limited perception of the world in which it operates, and its reactive rules will not express any direct link between what it perceives and what its behaviour will achieve. Because of this, composing a suitable program by hand can require some ingenuity. This paper presents a formal framework within which such programs may be systematically constructed. It describes such a construction process and illustrates its application, including simulation in a Prolog environment.