INDEXICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ROBOT ACTION - A LOGICAL ACCOUNT

The knowledge required for action is generally indexical rather than o bjective. For example, a robot that knows the relative position of an object is generally able to go and pick it up; he need not know its ab solute position. Agents may have very incomplete knowledge of their si tuation in terms of what objective facts hold and still be able to ach ieve their goals, This paper presents a formal theory of knowledge and action, embodied in a modal logic, that handles the distinction betwe en indexical and objective knowledge and allows a proper specification of the knowledge prerequisites and effects of action, Several kinds o f robotics situations involving indexical knowledge are formalized wit hin the framework; these examples show how actions can be specified so as to avoid making excessive requirements upon the knowledge of agent s.