Augmenting Disjunctive Temporal Problems with Finite-Domain Constraints

Michael D. Moffitt, Bart Peintner, Martha E. Pollack

Abstract: We present a general framework for augmenting instances of the Disjunctive Temporal Problem (DTP) with finite-domain constraints. In this new formalism, the bounds of the temporal constraints become conditional on the finite-domain assignment. This hybridization makes it possible to reason simultaneously about temporal relationships between events as well as their nontemporal properties. We provide a special case of this hybridization that allows reasoning about a limited form of spatial constraints; namely, the travel time induced by the locations of a set of activities. We develop a least-commitment algorithm for efficiently finding solutions to this combined constraint system and provide empirical results demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach.