Abstract

A planning tool box is a set of software modules implementing different planning algorithms, techniques, and representation languages. A planning system designer can use these modules---and possibly additional own ones--- for building a whole family of generic or application planners. The paper explains the concept and outlines work on developing such a tool box. In particular, it identifies descriptions of planning domain characteristics as a topic in planning theory from which results are needed for building a tool box, yet are missing. Overture: The tool box idea, and the paper Writing effective programs for difficult problem classes, like planning, would normally require to narrow down the range of the program's applicability: The more generality is admitted, the more overhead results. In consequence, it makes sense to tailor a planning system such that it fits closely the intended application domain or class of applications. In research, concentration on a single planning paradi...

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