Robot systems for construction and maintenance will require computer representations of the nuclear power plant environment specifically suited to robot control and task planning;two research efforts in representation are reported, one on domain modeling and one on geometric reasoning. The domain modeling approach is based on a multi-layered network representation. It demonstrates the ability to model the domain at different levels of abstraction, from a coarse map for path planning down to a detailed description for component assembly. The overall domain model is actually a set of nested models at any level of emphasis chosen by the developer. The approach is developed in an object-oriented programming environment, which is particularly effective in software development. A proposed geometric reasoning approach, also based in an object-oriented programming language, produces a declarative formulation for the representation and manipulation of geometric information. It permits the treatment of geometric knowledge in a knowledge-based expert system, using high-level concepts as employed by humans. The architecture for geometric reasoning uses spatial sets, an abstraction hierarchy, the concept of features, and the propagation of constraints to accomplish this knowledge representation.
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