00100	                       THE BLIND ROBOT PROBLEM  
00200	
00300	
00400		The  following  problem,  due  to Donald Michie (1972), gives
00500	rise to simple and interesting problems of representation  of  mental
00600	states from the epistemological and heuristic point of view:
00700	
00800		1.   In a room there are four places - Box1, Box2, Table, and
00900	Door. Outside the room, there is one place - Outside.
01000	
01100		2. At Door there is a non-empty pile of red objects and  only
01200	red  objects.   There are no objects of any kind at Table.  At one of
01300	the boxes, there is a non-empty pile of keys that fit  the  door  and
01400	only  such  keys.  At the other box there may be objects of any kind.
01500	It is not stated which box is Box1 and which is Box2.
01600	
01700		3. In the room is a robot  whose  only  sense  organ  is  the
01800	ability  to  sense  the completion of an action.  The robot has seven
01900	possible actions:
02000	
02100		Pickup - If the robot  is  already  holding  something,  this
02200	action  has  no effect.  If it is not holding something and there are
02300	objects at the place the robot is at, then the  result  is  that  the
02400	robot will be holding an object randomly selected from the objects at
02500	the robot's location.  If there are no objects there, then the  robot
02600	will  not  be  holding  anything  after  the action is completed.  We
02700	re-iterate that the robot's senses do not tell  him  which  of  these
02800	events has occurred nor what object if any he has in his hand.
02900	
03000		Release  -  If  the robot is not holding anything, the action
03100	has no effect.  Otherwise, the object is  deposited  at  the  robot's
03200	location.
03300	
03400		Go Box1 - The robot goes to Box1 keeping whatever it might be
03500	holding in its hand.
03600	
03700			Go Box2 - The robot goes to Box2 keeping whatever  it
03800	might be holding in its hand.
03900	
04000		Go  Table  - The robot goes to Table keeping whatever it might
04100	be holding in its hand.
04200	
04300		Go Door - The robot goes to Door keeping whatever it might be
04400	holding in its hand.
04500	
04600		Go  Outside  - If there is a key at Door, then the robot goes
04700	to Outside  keeping  whatever  it  might  be  holding  in  its  hand.
04800	Otherwise, the action has no effect.
04900	
05000		The  initial  location  of  the  robot is unstated, and it is
05100	unstated what if anything it has in its hand.
05200	
05300		The problem is to give a sequence of actions  for  the  robot
05400	that  guarantees that there will be a red object outside.  The reader
05500	is advised to solve the problem  himself  before  proceeding  to  the
05600	formal discussion.