Indexical Knowledge and Robot Action - A Logical Account

The knowledge required for action is generally indexical rather than objective. 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 absolute position. Agents may have very incomplete knowledge of their situation in terms of what objective facts hold and still be able to achieve their goals. This paper presents a formal theory of knowledge and action, embodied in a modal logic, that handles the distinction between indexical and objective knowledge and allows a proper specification of the knowledge prerequisites and effects of action. Several kinds of robotics situations involving indexical knowledge are formalized within the framework; these examples show how actions can be specified so as to avoid making excessive requirements upon the knowledge of agents. 1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation Designing autonomous robots or other kinds of agents that interact in sophisticated ways with their environment is hard; yo..