Spatial reasoning about strings and knots

• Grant number: 10/02080-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: June 25, 2010
• End date: July 09, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computer Systems
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo Santos
• Grantee: Paulo Eduardo Santos
• Visiting researcher: Pedro Cabalar
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade da Coruña (UDC), Spain
• Host Institution: Centro Universitário FEI (UNIFEI). Campus de São Bernardo do Campo. São Bernardo do Campo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this proposal is to bring to S. Paulo, as a visiting researcher, Prof. Pedro Cabalar (Coruña University, Espanha) so that we are able to continue our joint project whose aim is to develop a spatial reasoning system capable to infer facts about domains containing non-trivial objects (such as strings, knots and holes). In 2009 we have accepted a paper in the well-known Artificial Intelligence Journal (Elsevier) where we proposed a framework whose implementation was capable of solving a number of puzzles involving strings, rigid objects and holes. However, we could only conjecture that the proposed formalism could solve any kind of domains composed of similar objects. During Prof. Cabalar's visit we intend to prove this conjecture and to investigate a possible application of our formalism in a robotic needle steering domain. (AU)