Linkping University Electronic Press

Title:	Anchoring symbolic object descriptions to sensor data. Problem statement
Authors:	Silvia Coradeschi and Alessandro Saffiotti
Series:	Linkping Electronic Articles in Computer and Information Science ISSN 1401-9841
Issue:	Vol. 4(1999), No. 009
URL:	http://www.ep.liu.se/ea/cis/1999/009/

Abstract:	Every intelligent agent embedded in physical environments needs the ability to connect, or anchor, the symbols used to perform abstract reasoning to the physical entities which these symbols refer to. However, there appears to be no general definition of this ability, nor of the principles that characterize it, in the context of autonomous embedded systems. In this paper, we do the first steps toward a definition of the concept of anchoring and its functionalities. We also outline a few difficulties of anchoring: the need to deal with indexical and objective references, definite and indefinite identifiers; the temporary impossibility to percept physical entities; and the need to rely on sensor data which is inherently affected by uncertainty and ambiguities. We illustrate the use of anchoring in two domains: an autonomous airborne vehicle for traffic surveillance, and a mobile ground vehicle performing navigation tasks.

Abstract:

Every intelligent agent embedded in physical environments needs the ability to connect, or anchor, the symbols used to perform abstract reasoning to the physical entities which these symbols refer to. However, there appears to be no general definition of this ability, nor of the principles that characterize it, in the context of autonomous embedded systems. In this paper, we do the first steps toward a definition of the concept of anchoring and its functionalities. We also outline a few difficulties of anchoring: the need to deal with indexical and objective references, definite and indefinite identifiers; the temporary impossibility to percept physical entities; and the need to rely on sensor data which is inherently affected by uncertainty and ambiguities. We illustrate the use of anchoring in two domains: an autonomous airborne vehicle for traffic surveillance, and a mobile ground vehicle performing navigation tasks.

Original publication 1999-08-16	Postscript Checksum Checksum (old) Information about recalculation of checksum