Let us see what software science brings to the table wen we define rules of the road for robots. I define rule number one here:
Scenario one: When humans are milling about, sit still.OK, what form can I extract? It is a region excluded over time under a given scenario.
F(x,y),Exclusion,Time,Scenario
There we almost have it, the compilable form of the robot driving rule. What is missing is inheritability, this rule one must be inherited by all other rules. So we add the priority definition to the rule and we have it.
Exclusion zones, inclusion zones and conclusion zones define the second field, the zone modifier. It is the can go, can't go and must go definitions of what the robot must do.
Scenario ends up being the dumping ground, the text string, for what we cannot compile.
The software consortium that makes this work at least narrows down the problem to defined scenario rules, or scenario undefined. We could expect hundreds of city driving scenario rules,
left turn at a signal, four way stop, merge left, etc; all of these scenarios will inherit scenario one. They are likely to inherit other special scenarios, like
avoidance of parked cars.
But inheritibility implies method override. So, though the bus inherits scenario one, the bus depot scenario may explicitly modify the rule by allowing bus movement away from the curb at a bus stop. The modified exception, via completion, must appear in the rule set.
Developers of
Navigation Logic now have a game to solve, moving the bot through town, using the defined rule set. Insurance companies will see gains through rule definitions and increased safety. New oportunities for control buy wire automation will follow the rule format, finding better niches in private factory settings to public streets. The entire technology industry would be rejuvinated, we would have the new Open Source market driver.
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Let's try and dig out some more basic scenario rules, like
avoid colliding with inanimate objects. That rule is an exclusion rule, like Scenario 1, and is also a must inherit rule.
Zones can be defined, in basic form, as a sequence of vertices enclosing a geometric surface, relative to the bot. But Zones rules can be inclusive, defining available zones for the bot to move into over some period in the future. Conclusive zones are those zones where the bot must go, we have rules that confine them to certain lanes in some scenarios.
So, zones look just like the zones drawn in the DMV handbook.
