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States of motion

 

These present a general reason for using approximate concepts.

Suppose a robot is walking from here to there in discrete steps.

displaymath202

describes a situation that can persist. Sentences giving the robot's position at a given time must be frequently updated. An important human reason for forming an approximate concept is to get a fluent that will persist. This reason will also apply to robots but perhaps to a lesser extent, since computers can perform more frequent updating than can people.



John McCarthy
Wed Feb 2 15:59:04 PST 2000