Using Ontologies as Semantic Representations of Hierarchical Task Network Planning Domains

Integrating knowledge representation approaches, such as ontologies, with the field of automated planning is still an open research challenge. To explore this issue, we present a semantic model to address the knowledge representation of planning domains. More specifically, we show an ontological approach to represent HTN (Hierarchical Task Network) in OWL (Web Ontology Language) ontologies. We explain our planning ontology, demonstrate one instantiation to exemplify its use and propose algorithms to convert specifications from OWL to HTN, and vice-versa. We also discuss some future directions towards the integration of planning formalisms and semantic representations.