Zo: A framework for autonomous agent behavior specification and analysis

We describe a framework for the specification and analysis of autonomous agents1 . In general, such agents require several levels of behavioral specifications, including: low-level reflex actions, mid-level controllers to deal with the physical aspects of the world, and highlevel representations for goals and plans. In this study, we focus on the mid-level control problem (e.g., obstacle avoidance, grasping, etc.) and explore: 1. the use of real-time programming languages as behavior specification tools, 2. the use of formal techniques to prove properties of such specifications, and 3. the physical-based simulatoin and animation of such specifications.