To perform tasks well in a new domain, one must first know something about it. This paper reports on a robot controller for navigation through unfamiliar indoor worlds. Based on spatial affordances, it integrates planning with reactive heuristics. Before it addresses specific targets, however, the system deliberately explores for high-level connectivity and captures that data in a cognitive spatial model. Despite limited exploration time, planning in the resultant model is faster and better supports successful travel in a challenging, realistic space.
@article{arxiv.2007.00798,
title = {Deliberate Exploration Supports Navigation in Unfamiliar Worlds},
author = {Raj Korpan and Susan L. Epstein},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.00798},
year = {2020}
}