PlanningEntity

PlanningEntity is a concept often encountered in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly within planning systems. It represents an object or a component that can be acted upon by operators or actions within a planning problem. The state of a PlanningEntity can change as a result of these actions. In essence, a PlanningEntity is a dynamic element within a given world model that a planner aims to manipulate to achieve a desired goal.

PlanningEntity objects typically possess properties or attributes that describe their current condition. For example, a PlanningEntity representing a "robot" might have attributes like its current location, its battery level, or whether it is holding an object. Actions in a planning system are designed to modify these attributes of PlanningEntity objects. The planner's task is to find a sequence of actions that transforms the initial states of all relevant PlanningEntity objects into a set of goal states. The definition and representation of PlanningEntity objects are crucial for defining the scope and complexity of a planning problem. Different planning formalisms may use slightly different terminology, but the underlying concept of a manipulable, state-changing entity remains consistent.