Spatial representation and reasoning in an architecture for embodied agents

In this paper, we review PUG, a cognitive architecture for embodied agents, and report extensions that let it represent and reason about spatial relations. The framework posits graded concepts that are grounded in perception and integrates symbolic reasoning with continuous control. After describing the architecture, we discuss how an extended version supports places, encoded as virtual objects defined by distances to reference entities, and reasons about them as if they were visible. We demonstrate PUG's control of a simulated robot that approaches targets and avoids obstacles in a simple two-dimensional environment. In closing, we discuss related research on agent architectures, robotic control, and spatial cognition, along with our plans to extend the framework's capabilities for spatial representation and reasoning.