SAUSAGES: Between Planning and Action

Abstract

SAUSAGES stands for System for AUtonomous Specification, Acquisition, Generation, and Execution of Schemata. SAUSAGES provides a framework for specifying, running, monitoring, and altering plans for mobile robots, and is ideal for building complex real-time systems that need to operate outdoors. SAUSAGES bridges the gap between planning and action, between the world of symbols and propositions and the world of pixels and actuators. On the one hand, system designers whose primary interest is perception can easily build a SAUSAGES system capable of carrying out complex missions that showcases their perception modalities and actuation modules without a lot of resources devoted to higher level task management and control. On the other hand, system designers who are primarily interested in planning can use SAUSAGES to provide a layer of abstraction for high level planners so that they do not have to worry about the implementation details of each plan step. This allows for the natural development of a robot that can act as an intelligent agent in the unstructured outdoor environment rather that just in simulation or in a highly structured laboratory environment.