The field of knowledge-based systems (KBS) has expanded enormously during the last years, and many important techniques and tools are currently available. Applications of KBS range from medicine to engineering and aerospace.This book provides a selected set of state-of-the-art contributions that present advanced techniques, tools and applications. These contributions have been prepared by a group of eminent researchers and professionals in the field.The theoretical topics covered include: knowledge acquisition, machine learning, genetic algorithms, knowledge management and processing under uncertainty, conflict detection and resolution, structured knowledge architectures, and natural language-based man-machine communication.The Applications include: Real-time decision support, system fault diagnosis, quality assessment, manufacturing production, robotic assembly, and robotic welding.The reader can save considerable time in searching the scattered literature in the field, and can find here a powerful set of how-to-do issues and results.

Industrieroboter gehoren heute zum Alltag. In den letzten zehn Jahren verlagerte sich der Schwerpunkt der Neuentwicklungen weg von den Robotern selbst, hin zu alternativen Formen der kunstlichen Intelligenz, mit denen die Gerate ausgestattet werden. Dem Rechnung tragend, beschaftigt sich die zweite Auflage dieses Handbuchs vor allem mit Anwendungen und Strategien zur Problemlosung in der Industrie. Angesprochen werden Themen wie Graphiksimulatoren, objektorientierte Software, Kommunikationssysteme und Mikro- und Nanoroboter. (04/99)

This book contains thirty timely contributions in the emerging field of Computational Intelligence (CI) with reference to system control design and applications. The three basic constituents ofCI are neural networks (NNs). fuzzy logic (FL) I fuzzy reasoning (FR). and genetic algorithms (GAs). NNs mimic the distributed functioning of the human brain and consist of many. rather simple. building elements (called artificial neurons) which are controlled by adaptive parameters and are able to incorporate via learning the knowledge provided by the environment, and thus respond intelligently to new stimuli. Fuzzy logic (FL) provides the means to build systems that can reason linguistically under uncertainty like the human experts (common sense reasoning). Both NNs and FL I FR are among the most widely used tools for modeling unknown systems with nonlinear behavior. FL suits better when there is some kind of knowledge about the system. such as, for example, the linguistic information of a human expert. On the other hand. NNs possess unique learning and generalization capabilities that allow the user to construct very accurate models of nonlinear systems simply using input-output data. GAs offer an interesting set of generic tools for systematic random search optimization following the mechanisms of natural genetics. In hybrid Computational Intelligence - based systems these three tools (NNs, FL, GAs) are combined in several synergetic ways producing integrated tools with enhanced learning, generalization. universal approximation. reasoning and optimization abilities.

An introduction to multiagent systems and contemporary distributed artificial intelligence, this text provides coverage of basic topics as well as closely-related ones. It emphasizes aspects of both theory and application and includes exercises of varying degrees of difficulty.

The 12th Australian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI'QQ) held in Sydney, Australia, 6-10 December 1999, is the latest in a series of annual re gional meetings at which advances in artificial intelligence are reported. This series now attracts many international papers, and indeed the constitution of the program committee reflects this geographical diversity. Besides the usual tutorials and workshops, this year the conference included a companion sympo sium at which papers on industrial appUcations were presented. The symposium papers have been published in a separate volume edited by Eric Tsui. Ar99 is organized by the University of New South Wales, and sponsored by the Aus tralian Computer Society, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Computer Sciences Corporation, the KRRU group at Griffith University, the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute, and Neuron- Works Ltd. Ar99 received over 120 conference paper submissions, of which about o- third were from outside Australia. Prom these, 39 were accepted for regular presentation, and a further 15 for poster display. These proceedings contain the full regular papers and extended summaries of the poster papers. All papers were refereed, mostly by two or three reviewers selected by members of the program committee, and a list of these reviewers appears later. The technical program comprised two days of workshops and tutorials, fol lowed by three days of conference and symposium plenary and paper sessions.

This state-of-the-art book aims to address problems and solutions in implementing complex and high quality systems past the year 2000. In particular, it focuses on the development of languages, methods and tools and their further evaluation. Among the issues discussed are the following: evolution of software systems; specific application domains; supporting portability and reusability of software components; the development of networking software; and software architectures for various application domains. This book comprises the proceedings of the International Conference on Systems Implementation 2000: Languages, Methods and Tools, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and was held in Germany, in February 1998. It will be particularly relevant to researchers in the field of software engineering and to software developers working in larger companies.

This book presents reports from the forefront of soft computing in the Internet industry and covers important topics in the field such as search engines, fuzzy query, decision analysis and support systems as well as e-business and e-commerce.

This book includes the papers presented at the fifth International Conference on Application of Natural Language to Information Systems (NLDB 2000) which was held in Versailles (France) on June 28-30. Following NLDB95 in Versailles, NLDB96 i n Amsterdam, NLDB97 i n Vancouver, and NLDB99 i n Klagenfurt, NLDB 2000 was a forum for exchanging new research results and trends on the benefits of integrating Natural Language resources in Information System Engineering. Since the first NLDB workshop in 1995 it has become apparent that each aspect of an information system life cycle may be improved by natural language techniques: database design (specification, validation, conflict resolution), database query languages, and application programming that use new software engineering research (natural language program specifications). As information systems are now evolving into the communication area, the term databases should be considered in the broader sense of information and communication systems. The main new trend in NLDB 2000 is related to the WEB wave: WEB querying, WEB answering, and information retrieval. Among 47 papers submitted from 18 countries, the program committee selected 29 papers to be presented during the conference. Besides these regular papers, two invited talks (given by Pr. Reind P. van de Riet and Pr. Maurice Gross), and a set of posters and demonstrations are also included in these proceedings.

This book, a unique text on robotics and welding, will be bought by graduate students, and researchers and practitioners in robotics and manufacturing.

This unique book offers a comprehensive and integrated introduction to the five fundamental elements of life and society: energy, information, feedback, adaptation, and self-organization. It is divided into two parts. Part I is concerned with energy (definition, history, energy types, energy sources, environmental impact); thermodynamics (laws, entropy definitions, energy, branches of thermodynamics, entropy interpretations, arrow of time); information (communication and transmission, modulation–demodulation, coding–decoding, information theory, information technology, information science, information systems); feedback control (history, classical methodologies, modern methodologies); adaptation (definition, mechanisms, measurement, complex adaptive systems, complexity, emergence); and self-organization (definitions/opinions, self-organized criticality, cybernetics, self-organization in complex adaptive systems, examples in nature). In turn, Part II studies the roles, impacts, and applications of the five above-mentioned elements in life and society, namely energy (biochemical energy pathways, energy flows through food chains, evolution of energy resources, energy and economy); information (information in biology, biocomputation, information technology in office automation, power generation/distribution, manufacturing, business, transportation), feedback (temperature, water, sugar and hydrogen ion regulation, autocatalysis, biological modeling, control of hard/technological and soft/managerial systems), adaptation and self-organization (ecosystems, climate change, stock market, knowledge management, man-made self-organized controllers, traffic lights control).