The cutting tool industry has evolved over the last half century to the point where an increasing range and complexity of cutting tools are available for metal machining. This highlighted a need to provide an intelligent, user-friendly system of tool selection and recommendation that can also provide predictive economic performance data for engineers and end-users alike. Such an 'expert system' was developed for a local manufacturer of cutting tools in the form of a relational database to be accessed over the Internet. A number of performance predictive models were reviewed for various machining processes, however they did not encompass the wide range of variables encountered in metal machining, thus adaptation of these existing models for an expert system was reasoned to be economically prohibitive at this time. Interrogation of published expert systems from cutting tool manufacturers, showed the knowledge-engineered principle to be a common approach to transferring economic and technological information to an end-user. The key advantage being the flexibility to allow further improvements as new knowledge is gained. As such, a relational database was built upon the knowledge-engineered principle, based on skilled craft oriented knowledge to establish an expert system for selection and performance assessment of cutting tools. An investigation into tapping of austenitic stainless steels was undertaken to develop part of a larger expert system. The expert system was then interrogated in this specific area in order to challenge by experiment, the skilled craft oriented knowledge in this area. The experimental results were incorporated into the database where appropriate, providing a user-friendly working expert system for intelligent cutting tool selection, recommendation and performance data.

An approach for developing a computer-based aid to assist in monitoring and assessing nuclear power plant status during situations requiring emergency response has been developed. It is based on the representation of regulatory requirements and plant-specific systems and instrumentation in the form of hierarchical rules. Making use of inferencing techniques from the field of artificial intelligence, the rules are combined with dynamic state data to determine appropriate emergency response actions. In a joint project with Portland General Electric Company, a prototype system, called EM-CLASS, was been created to demonstrate the knowledge-based approach for use at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. The knowledge domain selected for implementation addresses the emergency classification process chat is used to communicate the severity of the emergency and the extent of response actions required. EM-CLASS was developed using Personal Consultant Plus (PCPlus), a knowledge-based system development shell from Texas Instruments which runs on IBM-PC compatible computers. The knowledge base in EM-CLASS contains over 200 rules. The regulatory basis, as defined in 10 CFR 50, calls for categorization of emergencies into four emergency action level classes: (1) notification of unusual event, (2) alert, (3) site area emergency, and (4) general emergency. Each class is broadly defined by expected frequency and the potential for release of radioactive materials to the environment. In a functional sense, however, each class must be ultimately defined by a complex combination of in- plant conditions, plant instrumentation and sensors, and radiation monitoring information from stations located both on- and off-site. The complexity of this classification process and the importance of accurate and timely classification in emergency response make this particular application amenable to an automated, knowledge-based approach. EM-CLASS has been tested with a simulation of a 1988 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant emergency exercise and was found to produce accurate classification of the emergency using manual entry of the data into the program. / Graduation date: 1997

The purpose of this research was to study agricultural crop production 'decision support systems' as a means of transferring agricultural technology from research labs and plots to producers, extension specialists, agriculture service agencies, and scientists, on the Western Canadian Prairies. A 'decision support system' is a computer program that analyses problems spanning several knowledge or problem areas producing results that aid the management decision-making process. The primary objective was to develop a computer application program that would fulfill the farm manager's decision support needs and be "open" to future enhancements. This interdisciplinary study has a strong agricultural presence in the application context of the resultant computerized agricultural decision support system, with agronomics being the foundation on which the system was built, and computer science being the toolbox used to build it. Farm Smart 2000 is the resultant decision support system, providing "single-window" access to three different tiers of decision support utilizing the Internet, ' expert systems' and integrated multiple heterogeneous 'reusable agents' in a cooperative problem-solving environment. An ' expert system' is a computer program that solves complicated problems, within a specific knowledge or problem area, that would otherwise require human expertise. Expert systems integrated with each other within a decision support system are called 'agents. Reusable agents' are modular computer programs (e.g. expert systems) which can be used in more than one computer application with little or no modification. Farm Smart 2000 provides support for most management aspects of crop production including variety selection, crop rotations, weed management, disease management, residue management, harvesting, soil conservation, and economics, for the crops of wheat, canola, barley, peas, and flax. Tier-3, the most sophisticated level of Farm Smart 2000, is the focus of this dissertation and utilizes multiple reusable agents, integrating them such that they cooperate together to solve complex interrelated crop production problems. A Global Control Expert achieves the required communication and coordination among the agents resulting in an "open system", enabling Farm Smart 2000 to extend its problem-solving capabilities by integrating additional agents and knowledge, without system re-engineering, thereby remaining an ongoing technology transfer vehicle.

In multi-level decision making (DM) approaches, the final decision is reached by going through a finite number of DM levels. Usually, in each level, a raw decision is produced first and then a suitable decision fusion technique is employed to merge the lower level decisions with the raw decision in the construction of the final decision of the present level. The basic difficulty in these approaches is the determination of how the consecutive levels should interact with each other. In this thesis, two different multi-level DM models have been proposed. The main idea in the first model, &ldquo / hierarchical DM&rdquo / (HDM), is to transfer the decisions of previous hierarchical levels to an upper hierarchy with some reliability values. These decisions are then fused using a suitable decision fusion technique to attain more consistent decisions at an upper level. The second model &ldquo / local DM in multiplelevels&rdquo / (LDM-ML) depends on what may be called as local DM process. Instead of designing an agent to perform globally, designing relatively simple agents which are supposed to work in local regions is the essence of the second idea. Final decision is partially constructed by contribution of a sufficient number of local DM agents. A successful local agent is retained in the agent pool whereas a local agent not successful enough is eliminated and removed from the agent pool. These models have been applied on two case studies associated with fault detection in a four-tank system and prediction of lotto sales.

Traffic accidents which damage the safety of human beings are one of the most important problems due to their material losses and effects to human health. Although continuous improvements are made by the governments / losses of traffic accidents are still a significant issue all over the world. The usual studies realized so far are generally related with the accident prevention models. However, there has not been much research done concerning the situation after the traffic accidents happen. After occurrence of traffic accidents, determination of fault rates for each party involved in the accident is urgently important. The aim of this study is to develop an expert system that uses the knowledge of experts for determination of fault rates in traffic accidents. For this purpose, a detailed literature survey was performed to define the determinants influencing the fault rates of each party. In addition, required data, that is, expert-witness reports were taken from academicians. Classification of these data was done and critical factors affecting fault rates were determined. In light of the defined factors, flowcharts were developed for each type of traffic accident. Moreover questionnaire submitted to experts, was prepared to acquire knowledge of experts. The critical factors affecting fault rates were assessed with a quantitative way in questionnaire. The proposed Traffic Accident Expert System (TAES) is on the basis of the knowledge of experts. Quantification of fault rates can change from one expert to another. An expert system such as the one this thesis will propose will prevent these contradictions. In addition, the expert system quantifies fault rates faster and more consistent as well.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis--Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, Hamburg, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Würzburg, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-281).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 64 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 8, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-133). Also issued in print.

Ένα εκπαιδευτικό λογισμικό κατασκευάζεται, προκειμένου με τη χρήση του να εκπληρωθούν συγκεκριμένοι μαθησιακοί στόχοι. Μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ως συμπληρωματικό μέσο διδασκαλίας από τον εκπαιδευτή ή ως υποστηρικτικό μέσο αυτοδιδασκαλίας από τον εκπαιδευόμενο. Αποτελεί μέσο αξιολόγησης ή αυτοαξιολόγησης του εκπαιδευόμενου, χωρίς βέβαια αυτό να αποτελεί κύριο σκοπό για την κατασκευή του. Οι σύγχρονες τεχνολογίες εκπαιδευτικού λογισμικού, που βασίζονται στις τεχνολογίες δικτύων υπολογιστών και των συστημάτων υπερμέσων, προσφέρουν την δυνατότητα να εξηγούνται, με παραστατικό τρόπο και πολλαπλά μέσα παρουσίασης, τα γνωστικά αντικείμενα, να διευκολύνεται η επικοινωνία και η συνεργασία μεταξύ εκπαιδευόμενων και εκπαιδευτών, να καταργείται η αποκλειστική χρήση μιας πηγής μαθησιακού υλικού, η οποία πολλές φορές περιέχει ξεπερασμένες πληροφορίες και, ως συνεπακόλουθο όλων αυτών, να μπορεί να αναπτύσσεται η κριτική σκέψη του υποκειμένου στην εκπαίδευση. Στην εργασία αυτή παρουσιάζουμε την συμβολή ενός τέτοιου προηγμένου συστήματος στην δημιουργία ενός μαθήματος για την Ακτινοπροστασία στους χώρους Υγείας. Για το σκοπό αυτό χρησιμοποιήσαμε μια εκπαιδευτική πλατφόρμα ικανή να παρουσιάζει προσαρμοστικά το περιεχόμενο, να προτείνει μαθησιακές δραστηριότητες ανάλογα με τον εκπαιδευόμενο, να προσφέρει διαφορετικούς τρόπους επικοινωνίας και συνεργασίας ανάλογα με το επίπεδο και τη διάθεση του μαθητή. Περιγράφουμε τους λόγους για τους οποίους τέτοια συστήματα μπορούν να προσφέρουν στην Ιατρική εκπαίδευση, καθώς και το πόσο απαραίτητο είναι το μάθημα της ακτινοπροστασίας για τα επαγγέλματα Υγείας. Παραθέτουμε την λειτουργικότητα των εργαλείων, τα οποία έχουν στη διάθεση εκπαιδευτές και εκπαιδευόμενοι, και τέλος αναφέρουμε τις τροποποιήσεις που κάναμε προκειμένου το σύστημα να διαθέτει ένα προσαρμοστικό τρόπο αξιολόγησης. Δίνουμε τα αποτελέσματα μιας πρώιμης αξιολόγησης του συστήματος-μαθήματος, από φοιτητές της Νοσηλευτικής του Τεχνολογικού Ινστιτούτου της Πάτρας. Τέλος αναφέρουμε μια συνοπτική περιγραφή της αρχιτεκτονικής και του τρόπου υλοποίησης του συστήματος. Η παρούσα εργασία αποτελεί ένα πρότυπο τόσο του πώς μια εκπαιδευτική πλατφόρμα μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για εκπαίδευση στους χώρους Υγείας, όσο και του πώς μια προϋπάρχουσα τέτοια εκπαιδευτική πλατφόρμα μπορεί να βελτιωθεί χρησιμοποιώντας τεχνολογίες τεχνητής νοημοσύνης. / -