Functional topological relations for qualitative spatial representation

In this paper, a framework is proposed for representing knowledge about 3-D space in terms of the functional support and containment relationships, corresponding approximately to the prepositions “on” and “in”. A perceptual model is presented which allows for appraising these qualitative relations given the geometries of objects; also, an axiomatic system for reasoning with the relations is put forward. We implement the system on a mobile robot and show how it can use uncertain visual input to infer a coherent qualitative evaluation of a scene, in terms of these functional relations.