Seamless Execution of Action Sequences

One of the most notable and recognizable features of robot motion is the abrupt transitions between actions in action sequences. In contrast, humans and animals perform sequences of actions efficiently, and with seamless transitions between subsequent actions. This smoothness is not a goal in itself, but a side-effect of the evolutionary optimization of other performance measures. In this paper, we argue that such jagged motion is an inevitable consequence of the way human designers and planners reason about abstract actions. We then present subgoal refinement, a procedure that optimizes action sequences. Sub-goal refinement determines action parameters that are not relevant to why the action was selected, and optimizes these parameters with respect to expected execution performance. This performance is computed using action models, which are learned from observed experience. We integrate subgoal refinement in an existing planning system, and demonstrate how requiring optimal performance causes smooth motion in three robotic domains.