The future role of expert systems in manufacturing

Expert Systems is an AI technique that is getting a lot of attention in the technical press. The number of articles seems to far exceed the number of functional systems.

It is this author's opinion that a very long, rough road lies ahead before Expert Systems will be functional on the factory floor. However, there are tremendous values possible if the technology can be applied.     

The changing role of information technology in manufacturing

Although its role in manufacturing has keen move to support processes, IT is evolving to become a catalyst for process and product change. In this case study, an apparel manufacturer used an enterprise modeling framework (EMF) developed by Georgia Tech (USA) to implement multiple IT solutions. It was then able to rapidly shift production resources between two separate product lines     

Information technology and knowledge in software development teams: The role of project uncertainty

Knowledge is a strategic resource; information technology (IT) is presumed to facilitate its movement among organizational members. The relevant literature, however, is inconclusive. This study reports the results of the effect of IT on knowledge-sharing processes, i.e., knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, under conditions of project uncertainty. Our results indicate that both exchange and combination are necessary to fully explain the relationships and that the consideration of a project's outcome is also important. While project uncertainty confounds the knowledge-sharing processes regardless of technology, the frequency of technology use routinely increases knowledge exchange and combination in a software team.     

公用电话的技术发展方向

储值IC卡公话的三级系统结构使得IC卡在全国漫游成为可能;储值IC卡话机显示内容丰富;储值IC卡可以实现广告、短信息、电子邮件、银行交易等增值业务。 智能网公话的在线认证有效地防止了断/并线盗打,但同时也暴露了它的不足,限制了帐号卡的省间漫游,尤其是周末、节假日话务量出现高峰时,SCP的瓶颈问题就暴露出来;智能网平台本身同样存在技术上的缺陷,因为智能网话机不是采用加密键盘,用户在终端写卡或更改密码时,帐号极易被盗。 NAS的作用是把不同的接人信号(PSTN,ISDN等)统一转化成数字信号。从PSTN向IP网络的转变解决了两大问题:从网络层面看,TCP/IP协议的引入实现了不同网络之间的互通;从业务层面看,统一的IP平台能够使话机很容易实现各种增值服务。相对于现行的公话体系而言,TCP/IP协议对降低运营成本的作用是非常明显的。     

数据挖掘技术的研究现状及发展方向

数据挖掘技术是当前数据库和人工智能领域研究的热点。文章对国内外数据挖掘技术的总体情况进行了概括性的介绍，其中包括数据挖掘技术的产生背景、应用领域等，并对当前数据挖掘的分类以及数据挖掘技术中常用的一些挖掘算法进行了说明，最后列出了一些数据挖掘在实际领域中的应用，并对数据挖掘技术的前景作出了展望。     

Implicit knowledge and fault diagnosis in the control of advanced manufacturing technology

Abstract

Field studies have shown that increasing operator responsibility for running advanced manufacturing technology can substantially enhance system performance. Improved fault diagnosis is central to such performance gains, and observations suggest this depends on implicit as well as explicit knowledge. However, the question of whether this is the case has not been systematically investigated. Evidence from field settings is circumstantial, and laboratory investigations of implicit knowledge have been based on other types of task. In this paper we described a study of implicit knowledge in fault diagnosis based on laboratory simulation of a robotics line. This confirms the existence of implicit knowledge in fault diagnosis, as well as raising both conceptual and methodological issues relevant to experimental approaches. We discuss the implications of the study for organizational practice and for the interaction between cognitive and organizational psychology.     

Implicit knowledge and fault diagnosis in the control of advanced manufacturing technology

. Field studies have shown that increasing operator responsibility for running advanced manufacturing technology can substantially enhance system performance. Improved fault diagnosis is central to such performance gains, and observations suggest this depends on implicit as well as explicit knowledge. However, the question of whether this is the case has not been systematically investigated. Evidence from field settings is circumstantial, and laboratory investigations of implicit knowledge have been based on other types of task. In this paper we described a study of implicit knowledge in fault diagnosis based on laboratory simulation of a robotics line. This confirms the existence of implicit knowledge in fault diagnosis, as well as raising both conceptual and methodological issues relevant to experimental approaches. We discuss the implications of the study for organizational practice and for the interaction between cognitive and organizational psychology.     

Test-driven development concepts, taxonomy, and future direction

Test-driven development creates software in very short iterations with minimal upfront design. This strategy requires writing automated tests prior to developing functional code in small, rapid iterations. Although developers have been applying TDD in various forms for several decades, this software development strategy has continued to gain increased attention as one of the core extreme programming practices.     

The new role of intranet/internet technology for manufacturing

Information processing is essential in manufacturing, where products are produced based on available information from various sources. A number of techniques and methodologies have been developed and utilised to achieve efficient exchange of information, such as the adoption of turnkey systems, neutral standards, e.g. PDES, STEP (ISO-10303). In recent years, the Internet has become the worldwide information platform for the sharing of all kinds of information, and Intranet, which is based on Internet technology but is used within an organisation, has become a preferred platform for data sharing. This change provides a new role of Intranet/Internet technology for manufacturing, particularly for those companies struggling to gain a competitive edge in the global manufacturing area. This paper describes how an Intranet can be established within an organisation, and analyses the future role of this new technology in the manufacturing community.     

The future of semiconductor manufacturing

This paper addresses the evolving requirements for factory integration and automation solutions that are being targeted to address the scale and complexity of the factories of the future. These requirements drive the need for real breakthrough solutions. More than ever before, there must be a strong focus on developing integrated solutions, using mainstream computer communications standards and protocols, so that development and implementation time is minimized and the software solutions are extendible as information technology evolves over time. The volume of manufacturing, process, yield, inspection, quality, and other critical data continues to exponentially increase with each new technology; therefore, its collection, storage, access, sharing, analysis, and retention methods have become a major challenge as well as a strategic competitive advantage for each company. Developing a flexible information systems architecture, with security features taking center stage to thwart possible virus infections, has also become an absolute necessity. Reduction of factory cycle times has become an important priority, as increased inventory (due to larger wafers) of the 'wrong" products in an everchanging marketplace results in a high risk of product obsolescence and loss of revenue. Other equally important business drivers facing the new generation of fabs also will be covered in this article     

悬臂式掘进机导航技术现状及其发展方向

阐述了悬臂式掘进机导航定位问题,并分析了其特殊性,给出了其数学描述;详细分析了掘进机光电导航和位姿检测技术现状、掘进机惯性导航技术现状、基于多信息融合的掘进机导航定位技术现状,并进行了比较与评价。得出结论:光电导航装备技术成熟、精度高,但在煤矿井下应用存在较严重的环境适应性问题;惯性导航技术环境适应性强、姿态检测精度较高,但长时定位精度差;将光电导航技术和惯性导航技术相结合的多信息多传感器融合的导航技术可能是解决悬臂式掘进机空间位姿检测问题的较优途径,实现信息融合的关键在于解决多信息多传感器带来的测量基准统一问题,且需要鲁棒性更强的融合算法。     

数据防泄漏技术模型的发展方向分析

安全防护的本质是数据,核心数据资产的安全一直是安全产业关注的重点。关注数据安全领域中的数据防泄漏技术模型,对当前主要的数据防泄漏技术路线进行了对比分析,对其面对的困难和挑战进行了阐述,并对国内外数据防泄漏技术模型的两个最主要发展方向进行了介绍和分析。     

Computerised manufacturing and empirical knowledge

What skills are required for working with computer-controlled machines in the manufacturing area? Taking the developments in the machine building sector in Germany as an example, it becomes apparent that a human-centred approach (skill-based manufacturing) offers the companies many advantages over Tayloristic forms of work organisation and automation. Closer observations reveal that skills and qualifications based on empirical knowledge and individual capabilities, such as a feeling for machines and materials, continue to play an important part in the work with computer-controlled machines. So far, however, skills of this kind have received neither practical nor systematic consideration and are regarded as tacit skills in most cases. Therefore it is particularly the use of computer technology which is likely — in most cases unintentionally — to restrict and undermine the essential preconditions necessary for the development and application of such skills.     

论电子信息技术的应用特点与未来发展趋势

随着社会经济的不断发展,科学技术也在不断的创新中。在这种形势下,电子信息技术普及的速度得到了加快,同时也推动了其它领域的研究与发展,这为社会的进步及人们的生活提供了很多便利。随着网络电子设备的普及,电子信息技术已经遍布人们日常生活中的各个角落。本文首先介绍了电子信息技术的发展现状,然后对电子信息技术的应用特点进行了探讨,最后指出了电子信息技术未来的主要发展趋势,以供大家参考。     

The role of inspection in automated manufacturing

This paper discusses the role of inspection in automated manufacturing. Also presented is an introduction to computerized coordinate measuring machines and their performance, since these constitute the most advanced inspection equipment available to industry today.     

The future of object technology

In the future, object technology will not be confined to a niche. Objects will be pervasive; very little serious software will not be object-oriented at least in some way in 1998 and beyond. Object technology isn't a matter of fashion. It's simply that no-one really knows how to tackle the kind of sophisticated systems that our users now want, without using object technology. It's also that no one has found anything better. Since object technology came into prominence a decade ago, pundits have at various times predicted its demise, with the inevitable periodic announcements of the so-called “Object Winter”-an allusion to the “AI Winter” that froze the spread of artificial intelligence in the late 1970s-but winter has not come, and all the signs indicate that spring will continue     

The future of optimization technology

Technology for combinatorial optimization is rapidly changing, and as the size and scope of problems that can be solved steadily increases, the complexity of the underlying technology is growing. We foresee a huge demand for both the simplification of use of combinatorial optimization technology (so called “model and run” capabilities), as well as increasing need for the ability to quickly build complex hybrid solutions. These demands will place new emphasis on universal modeling languages and model transformation capabilities, as well as flexible and high level ways of specifying hybrid solutions. These changes put constraint programming in an ideal position since: constraint programming has the most high-level view of problems to begin with so we can ease modeling difficulties; and since constraint programming is an integrative technology, we have already spent considerable effort in making different solving technologies work together seamlessly. In this position paper we outline some of the key challenges and important research directions we foresee for optimization technology,     

The future of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now among the buzzwords in manufacturing. Articles are written about various aspects of AI in manufacturing and some of these are discussed by Miller in “Artificial Intelligence: Applications for Manufacturing” [1]. Most of those authors extol the virtues of AI in manufacturing. From some of the literature, one might draw the conclusion that AI will solve all of our problems.

AI technologies are very sophisticated and are not going to easily accomodate the “noise” of the factory floor. We can see some of these techniques beginning to make inroads into manufacturing, but the road to full-scale implementation will be a rocky one.