Reformulation in planning

Abstract

Reformulation of a problem is intended to make the problem more amenable to efficient solution. This is equally true in the special case of reformulating a planning problem. This paper considers various ways in which reformulation has been exploited in planning. In particular, it considers reformulation of planning problems to exploit structure within them by allowing deployment of specialised sub-solvers, capable of tackling sub-problems with greater efficiency than generic planning technologies. The relationship between this reformulation of planning problems and the reformulation of problems in general is briefly considered.