Representation of Deliberation and Execution Time in Influence Diagrams

Extending Theories of Action: Formal Theory and Practical Applications

Volume

Papers from the 1995 AAAI Spring Symposium

Contents

This paper offers an explanation of the way time sequence is represented in the determination and execution of plans in influence diagrams (IDs). This requires also examining these questions for belief networks, which conventionally are used in a different way than IDs. The temporal constraints that an ID represents among its variables is also discussed. This is the beginning of work to extend IDs into the field of planning. Some initial observations are made here about the properties of sequential actions, called "options," and how this may relate to the notion of flexibility in a plan. This is a step toward extending the theory of action in IDs. An area of interest that we do not yet touch on is how abstraction of actions, such as appears in a planning hierarchy affects the representational questions considered.