Patent ID: 7409377

Claim:
A method for modeling a target system, comprising: defining a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) that characterizes the target system in terms of a set of variables, each having a respective input domain, and initial constraints applicable to the variables; partitioning the variables into at least first and second sets; finding an abstract solution to the constraint satisfaction problem comprising a given assignment of the variables in the first set; computing a reduced domain of at least one of the variables in the second set that is compatible with the abstract solution; determining a redundant constraint on the abstract solution responsively to the reduced domain; finding a concrete solution to the constraint satisfaction problem, using the abstract solution and the redundant constraint in forming a model of said target system and assigning a value to each variable from said set satisfying all the constraints, wherein said target system is a system for employing said concrete solution in modeling the target system for use in: control of a robotic arm in a mechanical system, wherein one or more of the variables correspond to control parameters of the mechanical system, and finding the concrete solution includes generating a command to control the mechanical system based on values of the one or more of the variables; and wherein finding the concrete solution comprises finding multiple concrete solutions based on the abstract solution, each of the concrete solutions comprising a specific assignments of the variables in the second set that is compatible with the given assignment of the variables in the first set; and wherein computing the reduced domain comprises applying arc consistency to a network of the constraints.