Object-oriented design for knowledge acquisition in expert systems
Object-oriented design for knowledge acquisition in expert systems
The development of expert systems in welding is of great technical and economic significance. The welding advisory system for process selection (WASPS) was designed as a PC-based expert system for advising on weld construction in steel pipework. The system domain was selected to cover that required by the central electricity generating board (CEGB). The system may be used to aid in the selection of a welding process for the welding of pipework and then to optimise the parameters of that process. Apart from knowledge about the processes themselves, other factors have been taken into consideration such as equipment cost and availability, depreciation, running costs, location, reject rate and quality level. This PC-based advisory system was designed for use by an informed but not necessarily expert welding engineer, with an emphasis on the friendliness of the interface and flexibility of the system.
The problems associated with knowledge acquisition are extremely significant and mechanisms to ease this task are essential. Attractive elements of WASPS were incorporated into an object-oriented design which produced BALDRICK. The emphasis on encapsulation of data and relevant procedures improved not only the efficiency of the system but also its overall design, meaning that future modifications or extensions can be incorporated with far greater ease. By exploiting the benefits of the object-oriented structure, BALDRICK provides intelligent assistance in creating and maintaining a knowledge base. The key element of the object-oriented design, which makes this possible, is the distributed inference obtained through encapsulation of knowledge base concepts. This produces a type of active knowledge which reduces redundant computation in inference and provides an elegant truth maintenance system. The active knowledge allows a knowledge level view of the knowledge base to be given with a separation of content and process knowledge.
University of Southampton
1991
Curtis, Gary James
(1991)
Object-oriented design for knowledge acquisition in expert systems.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The development of expert systems in welding is of great technical and economic significance. The welding advisory system for process selection (WASPS) was designed as a PC-based expert system for advising on weld construction in steel pipework. The system domain was selected to cover that required by the central electricity generating board (CEGB). The system may be used to aid in the selection of a welding process for the welding of pipework and then to optimise the parameters of that process. Apart from knowledge about the processes themselves, other factors have been taken into consideration such as equipment cost and availability, depreciation, running costs, location, reject rate and quality level. This PC-based advisory system was designed for use by an informed but not necessarily expert welding engineer, with an emphasis on the friendliness of the interface and flexibility of the system.
The problems associated with knowledge acquisition are extremely significant and mechanisms to ease this task are essential. Attractive elements of WASPS were incorporated into an object-oriented design which produced BALDRICK. The emphasis on encapsulation of data and relevant procedures improved not only the efficiency of the system but also its overall design, meaning that future modifications or extensions can be incorporated with far greater ease. By exploiting the benefits of the object-oriented structure, BALDRICK provides intelligent assistance in creating and maintaining a knowledge base. The key element of the object-oriented design, which makes this possible, is the distributed inference obtained through encapsulation of knowledge base concepts. This produces a type of active knowledge which reduces redundant computation in inference and provides an elegant truth maintenance system. The active knowledge allows a knowledge level view of the knowledge base to be given with a separation of content and process knowledge.
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Published date: 1991
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Local EPrints ID: 459324
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/459324
PURE UUID: 15206de1-1100-4e4d-8056-b667d4762c79
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 17:08
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 17:08
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Author:
Gary James Curtis
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