Object-centred planning: lifting classical planning from the literal level to the object level

A great deal of emphasis in classical AI planning research has been placed on search-control issues in plan generation, while the issue of knowledge representation and acquisition of models for use with classical planning engines has been largely ignored. Work in knowledge-based planning, on the other hand, is often associated with 'scruffy' AI, there being no standard representation languages with associated formal semantics for encoding domain models. In this paper we describe a method to create a planning domain model which preserves the domain independence, generality and 'clean' properties of generative planners to which the model can be attached. Our method is based an lifting the level of domain representation from the literal-centred, to the object-centred. This object-centred method has the advantage that it naturally allows for the creation of a supporting tools environment to help in (i) the creation and validation of a precise planning model, and (ii) the speed-up of plan generation.