"Robotics and artificial intelligence." Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 9(2-3), pp. 337–338

A formalism is presented for computing and organizing actions for autonomous agents in dynamic environments. We introduce the notion of teleo-reactive (T-R) programs whose execution entails the construction of circuitry for the continuous computation of the parameters and conditions on which agent action is based. In addition to continuous feedback, T-R programs support parameter binding and recursion. A primary difference between T-R programs and many other circuit-based systems is that the circuitry of T-R programs is more compact; it is constructed at run time and thus does not have to anticipate all the contingencies that might arise over all possible runs. In addition, T-R programs are intuitive and easy to write and are written in a form that is compatible with automatic planning and learning methods. We briefly describe some experimental applications of T-R programs in the control of simulated and actual mobile robots.

The theoretical foundations of the logical approach to artificial intelligence are presented. Logical languages are widely used for expressing the declarative knowledge needed in artificial intelligence systems. Symbolic logic also provides a clear semantics for knowledge representation languages and a methodology for analyzing and comparing deductive inference techniques. Several observations gained from experience with the approach are discussed. Finally, we confront some challenging problems for artificial intelligence and describe what is being done in an attempt to solve them.

Optimum radar resolution is recognized to be a problem in distinguishing between different possible target configurations. Radar reception systems which perform optimum range resolution are then designed using the principles of statistical decision theory. In particular, the design of the optimum resolution system is carried out for a squared-error loss function, modified to provide extra penalties for wrong guesses about the number of targets present. Such a system is capable of simultaneously deciding the number of targets present, their spatial positions (ranges) and their relative amplitudes. The analysis also includes a discussion of an optimum device for the resolution of distributed (clutter-like) targets.