Representing Continuous Change in the Event Calculus

The Event Calculus of Kowalski and Sergot only deals with discrete change. This paper introduces a simplified version of the Event Calculus and extends it to deal with continuous change, as in the height of a falling object or the level of liquid in a filling vessel. The idea of autotermination is introduced. A period of continuous change autoterminates if it brings about the event which terminates it. For example, when the increasing level of water in a sink reaches the overflow, it ceases to increase. The formulation is applied to a simple example with liquid filling a sink, and to a more complicated one with many tanks discharging liquid into another tank. In Proceedings ECAI 90, pages 598-603 

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1990
• Where: ECAI
• Authors: Murray Shanahan
• Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Continuous Change, Discrete Change, ECAI 1990, Event Calculus