  General-purpose service robots are expected to undertake a broad range of
tasks at the request of users. Knowledge representation and planning systems
are essential to flexible autonomous robots, but the field lacks a unified
perspective on which features are essential for general-purpose service robots.
Progress towards planning and reasoning for general-purpose service robots is
hindered by differing assumptions about users, the environment, and the overall
robot system. In this position paper, we propose desiderata for planning and
reasoning systems to promote general-purpose service robots. Each proposed item
draws on our experience with research on service robots in the office and home
and on the demands of these environments. Our desiderata emphasize support for
natural human-interfaces as well as for robust fallback methods when
interactions with humans and the environment fail. We highlight relevant work
towards these goals.
