An interactive software tool for system identification

The paper describes the conceptual basis, main features and functionality of an interactive software tool developed in support of system identification education and discovery. This Interactive Tool for System Identification Education (ITSIE) has been developed using Sysquake, a Matlab-like language with fast execution and excellent facilities for interactive graphics, and is deliverd as a stand-alone executable that is readily accessible to students and engineers. ITSIE provides two distinct functional modes that are very useful from an educational and industrial point of view. The simulation mode enables the user to evaluate the main stages of system identification, from input signal design through model validation, simultaneously and interactively in one screen on a user-specified dynamical system. The real data mode allows the user to load experimental data obtained externally and identify suitable models in an interactive fashion. The interactive tool enables students and engineers in industry to discover a myriad of fundamental system identification concepts with a much lower learning curve than existing methods.     

A frame-based knowledge software tool for developing interactive robots

A knowledge-based software tool for developing interactive robot applications, called SPAK, has been developed. The “world” of interest is represented in a SPAK knowledge base by using a frame knowledge technique. This technique is chosen because it can represent the world meaningfully and naturally. Relationships among frames, which represent things in the world, and actions to be taken when certain things occur can be specified. In action, SPAK perceives changes in the environment, updates the knowledge base if needed, and generates output actions according to the knowledge contents. To support robotic applications, extensions to the conventional frame model are proposed. Various robotic applications can run cooperatively on top of SPAK. Each can easily make use of the knowledge available, and share its knowledge with others. A SPAK knowledge editor allows simple and intuitive development and modification of robot applications. To demonstrate these benefits, a prototype system and a sample robot application are developed. A multiagent technique is employed to combine various robotic components, both hardware and software, together. A sample dialogue manager for managing interactions with humans runs as an application on SPAK.     

An interactive tool for knowledge base refinement

We present a tool that combines two main trends of knowledge base refinement. The first is the construction of interactive knowledge acquisition tools and the second is the development of machine learning methods that automate this procedure. The tool presented here is interactive and gives experts the ability to evaluate an expert system and provide their own diagnoses on specific problems, when the expert system behaves erroneously. We also present a database scheme that supports the collection of specific instances. The second aspect of the tool is that knowledge base refinement and machine learning methods can be applied to the database, in order to automate the procedure refining the knowledge base. In this paper we examine the application of inductive learning algorithms within the proposed framework. Our main goal is to encourage the experts to evaluate expert systems and to introduce new knowledge, based on their experience.     

An educational tool for interactive parallel and distributed processing

In this article we try to describe how the modular interactive tiles system (MITS) can be a valuable tool for introducing students to interactive parallel and distributed processing programming. This is done by providing a handson educational tool that allows a change in the representation of abstract problems related to designing interactive parallel and distributed systems. Indeed, the MITS seems to bring a series of goals into education, such as parallel programming, distributedness, communication protocols, master dependency, software behavioral models, adaptive interactivity, feedback, connectivity, topology, island modeling, and user and multi-user interaction which can rarely be found in other tools. Finally, we introduce the system of modular interactive tiles as a tool for easy, fast, and flexible hands-on exploration of these issues, and through examples we show how to implement interactive parallel and distributed processing with different behavioral software models such as open loop, randomness-based, rule-based, user interaction-based, and AI- and ALife-based software.     

PpcProject: An educational tool for software project management

The University degrees about engineering in general, and software engineering in particular, contain subjects related with Project Management. In this subject, the most commonly used software for practical classes and homework is MS-Project. Nevertheless, the students find that MS-Project is not easy to use and that it requires a high knowledge about Project Management and about the use of the software package. To fill this gap, a new educational software tool, called PpcProject, has been developed and introduced in Software Project Management classes in front of MS-Project. When assessed in practical classes, it was shown to be more useful for educational purposes than Microsoft Project both, in terms of usability and of students performance.     

An interactive support tool for writing multilingual manuals

Machine translation has been the dominant paradigm for automated multilingual document production. In this paradigm, a technical writer generates a source text, which is translated by the computer system into another language and then edited. One problem with machine translation, however, is that its output is typically constrained by the original text's style and language. Automatic language-generation systems, however, start with an underlying knowledge base that represents the text's content without dictating its language or style. However, most automatic systems are stand-alone tools, leaving technical writers out of the loop. The systems assume that an underlying knowledge base containing the necessary information is available or can be easily obtained. This is not necessarily the case, though, when producing instruction manuals. For example, the knowledge base required to produce instructions should contain user-oriented information. User-oriented documentation, which concerns the ways the product can help users achieve their goals, is more effective than documentation that focuses on the product. Only a technical writer can specify user-oriented information. It is thus prefer able to have a document-generation system that works with the writer. With this in mind, we developed Drafter, an interactive document drafting tool that can be integrated into the technical writers' working practices and that can automatically and simultaneously generate appropriately worded drafts in several languages. Drafter's current domain of application is software manuals     

An interactive tool for mobile robot motion planning

This paper presents an interactive tool aimed at facilitating the understanding of several well-known algorithms and techniques involved in solving mobile robot motion problems. These range from those modelling the mechanics of mobility to those used in navigation. The tool focuses on describing these problems in a simple manner in order to be useful for education purposes among different disciplines. By highlighting interactivity, the tool provides a novel means to study robot motion planning ideas in a manner that enhances full understanding. Furthermore, the paper discuses how the tool can be used in an introductory course of mobile robotics.     

An interactive/graphics software system for function minimization

An interactive/graphics based software package for solving unconstrained function minimization problems is described. The intent of the package (called INTEROPT) is to provide a computing environment which properly matches the experimental nature of the function minimization problem. A number of multidimensional minimization algorithms are provided for the user, together with a number of linear search algorithms. Through a simple command language, the user is able to make selections from among the available options and to specify values for the various parameters which control the program execution. This dialog is carried out with the user on a graphics CRT screen. Various types of graphical output are available in INTEROPT both to assist the user in evaluating the progress of the minimization trial and to enable him to interact with it, if he so chooses. The INTEROPT system also includes provisions for the interior penalty function approach to handling problems with constraints. The package therefore has a wide range of applicability.     

An interactive software for 81mKr pulmonary ventilation gating

An interactive software to gate scintigraphic list-mode data collected from ventilation studies using a radioisotope of an inert gas (81mKr) has been developed. It allows the detection of end expiration and end inspiration phases in a time activity curve. It involves six phases: filtering of the curve; preselection of local extrema; validation of the preselection; choice of the parameters for the reconstruction; control of the selected cycles and display of parameters such as frequency, expiration time, breath amplitude; reconstruction of images representing the distribution of ventilation during a mean respiratory cycle. This software was tested on 116 data sets without a failure. The interactive definition and control of the selected times made the algorithm useful regardless of the count rate and the frequency. It could be adapted to gate other periodic or semiperiodic physiological phenomena.     

An interactive tool for recognizing structured figures with variable shapes

In electric power supply, railway, and other companies with many facilities, facility management is a laborious task. To realize a computerized facility management system, numerous paper-based facility maps should be stored in a database. In this paper, we present a system that constructs a facility management database by interpretation of paper-based facility maps. This system can automatically recognize structured figures with variable shapes on maps, while conventional methods cannot recognize these figures. And this system can easily generate relational data between facilities and character strings on maps. We compare our recognition method of structured figures with variable shapes with a conventional recognition method, and show the effectiveness of our system. Received: 18 November 1996 / Accepted: 16 February 1998     

Process structure for interactive software

The domestic personal microcomputer invites its owner to create applications for it. Prominent among these are games, some of which call for real-time responses from the user to a complex rapidly moving display. It is argued that BASIC and other conventional high level languages are unsuitable for such tasks. A program structure based on the concept of processes is described and advocated.     

An interactive productivity measurement model using spreadsheet software

Previous computerized productivity measurement models to assist firms in computing productivity measures from a set of input data have been constructed using procedural languages, primarily Fortran and Basic. These models have a number of shortcomings which have detracted from their usefulness. First, these models must be modified to adapt them to the organization and data available from a particular firm. Modification is expensive and time consuming since it requires a detailed knowledge of the structure of the model and the language in which it is programmed in addition to a detailed knowledge of the firm. Second, data entry is not only difficult and time consuming but the user has no indication of what is happening between the input of data and the output of the final productivity measure.

This paper describes the development of an interactive multifactor productivity measurement model using Lotus 123. With the spreadsheet software the model can be easily adapted to fit the needs of the firm by the firm's industrial engineer with a only working knowledge of Lotus 123. Changes in data can be made easily by using the features of the spreadsheet software, and the effects of the changes can be seen easily and rapidly on various aspects of the model.     

An interactive graphic software for the analysis of rotationally symmetric structures

Several efficient programs to analyse different kinds of structures have been developed at this centre. But the data preparation and comprehension of output have been time consuming. To facilitate data preparation some dedicated preprocessors were written but it has not been possible to make a visual check on structure modelling, deformations and stress patterns. With the availability of graphic facilities at this centre, the present project was taken up to develop graphic software for a program, ROTSYM, for the analysis of rotationally symmetric structures like cooling towers, chimneys, watertanks, etc. This software enables the designer to display the modelled structure, deformed geometry and stress patterns; thus cutting down the time required in data checking and output verification.     

An initial industrial evaluation of interactive search-based testing for embedded software

Search-based software testing promises the ability to generate and evaluate large numbers of test cases at minimal cost. From an industrial perspective, this could enable an increase in product quality without a matching increase in the time and effort required to do so.Search-based software testing, however, is a set of quite complex techniques and approaches that do not immediately translate into a process for use with most companies.For example, even if engineers receive the proper education and training in these new approaches, it can be hard to develop a general fitness function that covers all contingencies. Furthermore, in industrial practice, the knowledge and experience of domain specialists are often key for effective testing and thus for the overall quality of the final software system. But it is not clear how such domain expertise can be utilized in a search-based system.This paper presents an interactive search-based software testing (ISBST) system designed to operate in an industrial setting and with the explicit aim of requiring only limited expertise in software testing. It uses SBST to search for test cases for an industrial software module, while also allowing domain specialists to use their experience and intuition to interactively guide the search.In addition to presenting the system, this paper reports on an evaluation of the system in a company developing a framework for embedded software controllers. A sequence of workshops provided regular feedback and validation for the design and improvement of the ISBST system. Once developed, the ISBST system was evaluated by four electrical and system engineers from the company (the ‘domain specialists’ in this context) used the system to develop test cases for a commonly used controller module. As well as evaluating the utility of the ISBST system, the study generated interaction data that were used in subsequent laboratory experimentation to validate the underlying search-based algorithm in the presence of realistic, but repeatable, interactions.The results validate the importance that automated software testing tools in general, and search-based tools, in particular, can leverage input from domain specialists while generating tests. Furthermore, the evaluation highlighted benefits of using such an approach to explore areas that the current testing practices do not cover or cover insufficiently.     

Accounting and billing software and user reactions: An interactive diagnostic audit trail

The selection of an accounting and billing software (ABS) system is a complicated process. The overall satisfaction derived from a system depends on many variables. This study analyzes the influence of ABS (predictor) variables on overall satisfaction. It confirms our hypotheses that ease of operation, computer reliability, and ease of programming are the major determinants of overall computer user satisfaction. These factors were used in the design of an ABS diagnostic system based on audit trails (DSAT).     

MANIP: an interactive tool for modelling RNA

Large RNA structures can be viewed as assemblies of smaller units or modules that are usually clearly identified (helices, hairpin loops, other recurrent motifs, etc.). We have developed a program, MANIP, which allows the rapid assembly of separate motifs (each with a specified sequence) into a complex three-dimensional architecture. The already determined modules are present in a database from which they can be extracted with the appropriate sequence. Their assembly is performed in real time on the computer screen with buttons and dials that command rotation and translation of any chosen fragment with respect to the chosen pivot, or that generate all possible variations of any torsion angle within a specified segment either in the 5′ or in the 3′ direction. The possible in-built manipulations follow the general stereochemical rules of RNA structure. MANIP automatically recognizes and displays the allowed and nonallowed hydrogen bonds between the residues. The program is interfaced with a rapid and automatic online refinement tool of partial or full assemblies, NUCLIN-NUCLSQ. The refinement protocol incorporates canonical as well as noncanonical base pairing constraints together with restraints imposed by covalent geometry, stereochemistry, and van der Waals contacts. The computer package runs on UNIX Silicon Graphics workstations and is written in C with OpenGL and X11/Motif libraries.     

V-HairStudio: an interactive tool for hair design

Graphical models of natural objects have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. Although researchers have made significant progress in modeling complex objects in the last decade, representing human hair realistically continues to challenge us. It presents problems in all aspects of computer graphics technologies, such as shape modeling, manipulation, rendering, and dynamic simulation. The article introduces a hair-designing system. Based on the cluster hair model, this designing tool provides a rich set of functionality for interactive hairstyle design in two levels of abstraction. The system is more powerful, and at the same time, more convenient and efficient for hair styling and manipulation than previous modeling systems. We can divide existing hair models into two categories: explicit geometric models and volume-density models     

An interactive tool based on priority semantic networks

The main advantages of the semantic networks as formalism for knowledge representation are well known: simplicity, naturalness, visionless, and clarity. However, they have the following disadvantages: poor representation of arbitrary relations, insufficient expressiveness, unclear semantics, difficult implementation of some operations, and difficult control of the inheritance. In the present paper, the formal definition of a new kind of semantic network, called Priority Semantic Network (PSN) is given. On this basis, an algorithm of transformation of PSN into a list of concepts and semantic links is presented. The architecture and user interface of a tool, in which this algorithm is embedded, are also discussed.