- Explanation-Based Chunking: The first official release of a new, far more powerful rule learning algorithm that replaces chunking, Soar's original general learning mechanism
- Instance-based model of semantic memory: Can be used in a greater variety of ways and integrates with other aspects of Soar much more cleanly
- Streamlined user interface: Has far fewer top-level commands with improved presentation and feedback
- Explanations: A new explain command provides interactive exploration of an agent's rule learning experiences
- Visualizations: A new visualize command creates graphical representations of Soar's memory systems and even some of its processing
- Spreading activation: The first beta release of a model of spreading activation in semantic memory
Use the menu at the bottom of this post to access the full release notes.
How to Install and Launch Soar
- Download Soar 9.6.0 Multi-Platform and extract to the folder of your choice
- Windows users: Avoid path names that are very long or contain spaces or parentheses. They may prevent the software from running.
- Navigate to the folder you extracted to
- Launch Soar
- To launch Soar within a graphical user interface
- Windows users, run SoarJavaDebugger.bat
- Linux and Mac users, run SoarJavaDebugger.sh
- To launch Soar using a command line interface,
- Windows users, run Soar_CLI.bat
- Linux and Mac users, run Soar_CLI.sh
- You can also navigate to the /bin directory in a terminal and run the Soar executable directly
- To launch Soar within a graphical user interface
Note: This binary download requires a 64-bit operating system. If you'd like to use the graphical debugger, Java must also be installed.
The following menu allows you to access three other sections:
- Full release notes
- Troubleshooting tips
- Getting additional help