Reasoning about actions with CHRs and finite domain constraints

Abstract. We present a CLP-based approach to reasoning about ac-tions in the presence of incomplete states. Constraints expressing neg-ative and disjunctive state knowledge are processed by a set of special Constraint Handling Rules. In turn, these rules reduce to standard fi-nite domain constraints when handling variable arguments of single state components. Correctness of the approach is proved against the general action theory of the Fluent Calculus. The constraint solver is used as the kernel of a high-level programming language for agents that reason and plan. Experiments have shown that the constraint solver exhibits excellent computational behavior and scales up well.