A Meta-CSP Model for Optimal Planning

One approach to optimal planning is to first start with a sub- optimal
solution as a seed plan, and then iteratively search for shorter plans. This approach
inevitably leads to an increase in the size of the model to be solved.We introduce
a reformulation of the planning problem in which the problem is described as a
meta- CSP, which controls the search of an underlying SAT solver. Our results
show that this approach solves a greater number of problems than both Maxplan
and Blackbox, and our analysis discusses the advantages and disadvantages of
searching in the backwards direction