Autolane:: “The bag of necessary thing states; Or: What’s needed Right Now?“

We can model life as a continuation of “event frames“. IN each of those frames there’s both 1) a necessary, and 2) an optimal set of conditions in which the frame proceeds. Deviations from the optimal produces a list of Undesired consequences. The conditions can have
prefix and postfix functional or static attributes; like the water for teethbrushing can’t be too hot, nor too cold (nor ice, of course).

In general we formulate the day’s frames as these kind of entities:

(activity type prelist postlist cf)

where
– `activity` is the name of what we’re accomplishing: a subtask
– type is a discrete type attribute of the activity
– prelist lists the conditions that are a necessity for the completion of
the activity
– postlist gives out the consequences of the activity: making food
often causes also dishwashing needs as an (unwanted but realistic) side effect
– cf is not a static list of items; it is a function that is being
calculated every time that the `activity` is run. So cf is never unique;
it is always influenced by (often far exogenous) other factors that are
in a constant state of flux. cf can just be computed, but it can’t be
predicted. With time, though, the forecast values of cf can be established,
and thus Autolane:: gains a powerful edge.

The model used in Autolane:: is quite close to that of Hoare‘s logic, used in
verifying computer program correctness. Hoare’s statements are of the form:

{P} C {Q}

where P and Q are assertions and C is a command. P is named the precondition
and Q the postcondition: when the precondition is met, the command establishes
the postcondition. Assertions are formulae in predicate logic. More about Hoare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoare_logic

For an example of a very simple frame set of conditions:
((“brushing teeth”)
(clean water)
(toothbrush))

– ownership
– required proximity
– presence
– other access controls / state (locked, open, hidden, visible, …)
– exogenous queues
– compatibility issues, especially in technical appliances like dishwashers etc

But for more optimal and convenient performance:
((“brushing teeth”)
(clean water)
(toothbrush)
(toothpaste)
(conds
((clean water) ‘running ((between ‘temperature (10 45))))

Ingenuity?

To control water temperature, there are “the list of means”. A `mean`
is a process that can alter the attributes of an object. One good
example is water: to make it cooler, wait. The waiting can only lower
the water temperature down to ambient temperature, whatever that is
at the time. On the other hand, to make water hotter, it can be
placed in some sort of vessel and heated up, usually on a stove, in
a special water boiler, or by using a campfire. But wait! Real world
is even more intriguing. By carefully choosing the placement of the
water, it can be made hotter by letting the water stand in a place of
great sunshine.

Passive living

One of the big future trends is to make things happen in a natural way,
so as to minimize energy expenditure. This is also a big chance for
Autolane:: in that it might discover intelligent ways of living that
were hitherto unthinkable to us.