Graph plotting in ALGOL 68-R

This paper describes the facilities that have been provided for plotting graphs in Algol 68-R. The advantages of the method of approach arc discussed and examples of use are given.     

MPLOT3—A system-independent plotting package

This paper describes a general purpose plotting package which enables sets of data points to be plotted on a variety of output devices by simply specifying the mnemonic name and without any programming on the part of the users. A plot can be produced with the default options from a simple data file which can be expanded to call in many extra facilities. Options include scaling, automatic selection of axes and their markings, and identification of curves/shapes by varying-length dashed lines, different symbols or colours. English and Greek characters can be written at any angle and size. Clipping or voiding facilities are provided to confine plotting inside or outside a given area. The package is expandable to allow new facilities to be added. The present form has been arrived at through feedback from the users over the last four years and has found a wide variety of applications in a scientific environment.     

Contour plotting for function specified at nodal points of a mesh based on a set of irregular profiles

A FORTRAN IV subroutine entitled CMAP is provided for determining the contour lines of a function specified on a mesh made by a set of irregular profiles. The subroutine is independent of the support medium holding the mesh, thus it is possible to work on a large set of data with a small computer.     

A class of high level languages for process control

An abstract notational system can serve as a model for the investigation of high level programming languages that explicitly support the monitoring and control of parallel events, provide data types at the bit level and allow real-time interaction between user and process. Run-time mechanisms that support the execution of programs in the notational system chosen on specific hardware can also be identified. A software tools environment can be designed to provide high level languages and runtime support for process control in a way that encourages portability among different hardware configurations.     

Geometric modeling of curves using weighted linear and circular segments

This paper presents a method for geometric modeling of curves. Linear and circular segments with weight functions are used for curve design. Similar weight functions are used for smoothing and interpolation. The curve can be composed of consecutive linear and circular segments with smoothing at knots. If an interpolating curve is necessary, then weighted linear and circular segments are used for blending. Smoothness of the designed curve depends on the chosen weight function. It is possible to design the curve of variable smoothness using different weight functions.     

A high level language based system for cross-assembler definition

A method to develop cross-assemblers is explained by describing the XMETA system, where the advantages given by the semantic power of meta-assemblies have been combined with the clarity of modern high level languages, such as Pascal, in defining assembly semantics. XMETA accepts a superset of the IEEE-P694 microprocessor assembly language standard syntax: system structure is detailed and examples are provided to illustrate its use. Actual experiences are briefly summarized in the conclusions.     

Cross-sectional design with curvature constraints

A practical example of B-spline curve control points manipulation for the geometric construction of a free form shape is presented. Elements of a cross-sectional design methodology are used in conjunction with a skinning type operator for the definition of a B-spline surface. Skinning process is well established in the CAD community, but further difficulties arise in producing smooth surfaces under constraints. This paper attempts to overcome the fairness problem by choosing an appropriate solution where the execution time has to be reasonably short. Main results include an industrial application in a preliminary aerodynamic design cycle where manufacturing tolerances defined by smoothness criteria are maintained.     

Cognitive high level information fusion

Fusion of sensor and communication data currently can only be performed at a late processing stage after sensor and textual information are formulated as logical statements at appropriately high level of abstraction. Contrary to this it seems, the human mind integrates sensor and language signals seamlessly, before signals are understood, at pre-conceptual level. Learning of conceptual contents of the surrounding world depends on language and vice versa. The paper describes a mathematical technique for such integration. It combines fuzzy dynamic logic with dual cognitive-language models. The paper briefly discusses relationships between the proposed mathematical technique, working of the mind and applications to understanding-based search engines.     

Distributed data bases

Distributed data bases provide a means for storing, managing and accessing large volumes of structured data. This technology is coupled with current developments in distributed systems. This paper references a distributed system under development by the Surveys and Mapping Branch of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources in Canada, for the production of faired drawings from a geographic data base. Some of the notions and considerations involved in the development of distributed data bases also are discussed.     

Geoic: an interactive terminal-based geochemical data processing system

A series of interactive terminal-based FORTRAN IV programs have been developed for processing and evaluating major and trace element data produced in the analysis of rock samples. The GEOIC system consists of three stages. The first is concerned with the processing of analytical data produced in the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of fused samples for major elements and pressed powder briquettes for trace elements. In the second stage, the major and trace element results are linked together by a tabulation program which creates an input file for CIPW norm programs. The tabulation program will sort also the analyses into groups according to an 8 character “group identifier” keyword attached to each analysis. Average analyses are calculated also for each group. The tabulation program combines the major, trace and normative data to produce a data base file as well as a tabulated output file for dispatch to a line printer. In the third stage, the data base file serves as the input to interactive programs for graphical and statistical evaluation of the geochemical data. The graphics program allows the user to plot rapidly binary and ternary diagrams for all samples or plotting may be restricted to specified groups or only to the group averages. The statistical program allows the user to calculate various parameters as well as a correlation coefficient matrix for all samples, for selected groups or for only group averages.The group identifier keyword attached by the user to each sample analysis facilitates the division of the suite of samples under study into groups and subgroups. This important feature adds considerable flexibility to the processing and evaluation of data via the tabulation, graphics and statistics programs.The tabulation program will accept also free-format major and trace element data produced by analytical methods other than XRF. The second and third stages of the system may be used, therefore, as a general purpose geochemical data processing and evaluation package.     

A high quality interpolation method for colocated polyhedral/polygonal control volume methods

A high quality and efficient interpolation method for polyhedral/polygonal control volume simulation data is presented. The proposed method utilizes a non-ambiguous and efficient mesh decomposition technique. A pseudo-Laplacian is used to solve an optimization problem to approximate the variation between discrete data points in a linear fashion. The interpolation method guarantees continuous interpolation data throughout the control volume mesh topology and faithfully reproduces the input control volume data. The interpolation connectivity is structured to mimic the interpolation methods utilized by the control volume discretization. The method only requires the geometry of the input data to perform interpolations. This allows key interpolation data to be calculated once and stored for efficient interpolations. The benefits of the proposed algorithm are highlighted by an interpolation test case which demonstrates the benefits of the current method compared to a popular interpolation method currently used in industry. Since the proposed method is designed to augment an existing mesh data structure it can be used to update existing control volume software.     

An event-driven high level model for the specification of laws in open multi-agent systems

The agent development paradigm poses many challenges to software engineering researchers, particularly when the systems are distributed and open. They have little or no control over the actions that agents can perform. Laws are restrictions imposed by a control mechanism to deal with uncertainty and to promote open system dependability. In this paper, we present a high level event-driven conceptual model of laws. XMLaw is an alternative approach to specifying laws in open multi-agent systems that presents high level abstractions and a flexible underlying event-based model. Thus XMLaw allows for flexible composition of the elements from its conceptual model and is flexible enough to accept new elements.     

A two level prediction algorithm for non-linear systems

In this note the recent algorithm of Hassan and Singh is modified to provide a more powerful approach to the hierarchical optimisation of non-linear systems with quadratic performance indices. The new approach does not use the quadratic penalty terms in the cost function. This allows convergence over a longer time horizon and numerical studies on the synchronous machine example of Hassan and Singh show that the modified algorithm also provides faster convergence.     

A three level costate prediction method for continuous dynamical systems

In this paper a continuous time version of a previous discrete systems optimisation algorithm is developed. The new algorithm uses prediction of costates within a three level structure to provide an efficient organisation of both the storage and the computation. The algorithm which applies to both linear and nonlinear interconnected dynamical systems has been proved to converge to the optimum. A practical example is given to illustrate the approach. In the example which is of a nonlinear synchronous machine the present approach appears to provide faster convergence and smaller storage than with previous hierarchical and global methods.     

A Java-based intelligent advisor for selecting a context-appropriate spatial interpolation algorithm

The choice of an appropriate interpolation technique is an imposing task. There are many techniques to choose from depending on the characteristics of the phenomenon, the purpose of the study and also the expertise of the user. This paper describes the implementation and architecture of a Java-based intelligent advisor to assist a generic user, ranging from the casual to the specialist, in selecting the interpolator most appropriate for a given task and data set. The software integrates procedural knowledge from disparate sources through an expert system shell, and uses multiple sensory channels to present and abstract contextual knowledge from the user regarding both the data and the task at hand. The system has been tested for use in a meteorological domain in the first instance. The interpolation methods currently assessed by the system are multiple forms of kriging, thin plate smoothing splines, inverse-distance weighting and trend surface/polynomial analysis.     

Omo river project data-management system: an appraisal

The large amount of data accumulated during a regional reconnaissance geological and geochemical survey in southwestern Ethiopia was stored and processed by computer. An open-ended, combined fixed- and free-format data-recording system was devised for field use and for subsequent addition of laboratory data. The data were typed on to magnetic tape and loaded through editing programs on to a System 2000 data base which, after correction, contained about 10 million characters. Maximum user control for access purposes was obtained by collection of the data into keyed repeating groups indexed to field station numbers. Processing included use of immediate access by teletype for presentation, limited statistical treatment, amendment of user-specified data, batch processing for organized report writing, and for creation of numerical data files for subsequent plotting and statistics.The unified data-collection system served to even out disparities between the backgrounds and interests of different observers. The main advantage of using System 2000 has been the ease and rapidity of retrieving soft data related to the significant results of hard data processing, particularly where applied to relationships between different fields of geological information. For compilation, rapid retrieval of organized data, notably for specified areas, has saved much time and labor. The major shortcoming has been the time required for initial data preparation prior to loading and for identification and change of incorrect data accepted for loading by editing programs. This drawback was due mainly to the fact that the data-recording procedure was devised before design and testing of the data base. This system should be adaptable for similar projects provided that the data-recording format is modified.     

基于以活动为中心的协同标绘集成系统

基于以活动为中心的协同模式,结合可扩展消息处理现场协议(XMPP),音视频,用户身份标识提示等多种技术给出了一种新的协同标绘集成系统的设计.该设计按照美国W. Keith Edwards提出的协同感知评价标准进行评定,在地点、当前任务、潜在的可打断性和对其他用户展现中的3个方面上能够较好地支持协同中的感知,最大限度地接近现实世界中的协同感知.     

A decision support system for cellular manufacturing system design

With the growth of competitive pressure in the global markets, there has been an increase in demand in industry for cellular manufacturing systems (CMSs) in order to improve productivity and process flexibility. The design of CMSs for industrial applications is a complex and knowledge intensive process as it involves the consideration of many factors including production data and process characteristics. This paper describes the development and implementation of a decision support system for the feasibility and conceptual design of CMSs. The system is based on the knowledge-based system approach, and is able to make recommendations of system feasibility, cell formation techniques and cell types. A case study is also presented to demonstrate the capability of the decision support system.