Threat Analysis Using Goal-Oriented Action Planning : Planning in the Light of Information Fusion

Abstract: An entity capable of assessing its and others action capabilities possess the power to predict how the involved entities may change their world. Through this knowledge and higher level of situation awareness, the assessing entity may choose the actions that have the most suitable effect, resulting in that entity’s desired world state. This thesis covers aspects and concepts of an arbitrary planning system and presents a threat analyzer architecture built on the novel planning system Goal-Oriented Action Planning (GOAP). This planning system has been suggested for an application for improved missile route planning and targeting, as well as being applied in contemporary computer games such as F.E.A.R. – First Encounter Assault Recon and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. The GOAP architecture realized in this project is utilized by two agents that perform action planning to reach their desired world states. One of the agents employs a modified GOAP planner used as a threat analyzer in order to determine what threat level the adversary agent constitutes. This project does also introduce a conceptual schema of a general planning system that considers orders, doctrine and style; as well as a schema depicting an agent system using a blackboard in conjunction with the OODA-loop.