Constraint-Based Design of Embedded Intelligent Systems

Substantial progress has been achieved using the standard Constraint Satisfaction Problem framework. However, there is a major unsolved challenge confronting the constraint research community: the constraint-based design of embedded intelligent systems. This requires a new online model of constraint satisfaction and new computational tools for specifying, modeling, verifying and implementing constraint-based, hybrid, intelligent systems, such as robots. The Constraint Net model of Zhang and Mackworth allows the design of hybrid intelligent systems as situated robots: modeling the robot and the environment symmetrically as dynamic systems. If the robot's perceptual and control systems are designed as constraint-satisfying devices then the total robotic system, consisting of the robot symmetrically coupled to the environment, can be proven correct. Some theoretical and practical advances based on this model are described, including experiments with the constraint-based design of robot soccer players.     

P-Bandwidth Priority Queues on Reconfigurable Tree of Meshes

This paper shows a parallel implementation of a priority queue with bandwidthPand maximum sizenPby means of a network with reconfigurable buses. The proposed solution is based on a tree of meshes architecture ofO(nP²) processors andO(Plogn) maximum subbus length. The computational times required by the operations of a priority queue with bandwidthPareO(1) for all the operations, using the unit-time delay model for broadcasting, while they areO(1) for MIN andO(logP+ log logn) for both DELETEMIN and INSERT, using the log-time delay model. The proposed network can be laid out in a classical H-shaped manner to occupyO(nP²) area in the VLSI model. WhenP=O(1), the required area is optimal and, using the unit-time delay model, the resultingAT²is also optimal. The paper presents also a very simple and efficient way of merging two sorted sequences on a reconfigurable mesh, which is used in the implementation of the priority queue operations.     

Improving the availability and cost-effectiveness of guidelines for guideline-users: towards a structured approach

The achievement of design and development solutions can be enhanced through consulting appropriate guidelines Although a wide range exist, frequently their full benefits are not realized by guideline-users because of the costs associated with their use. Guideline-users are people who use guidelines to support purposeful activity. Major cost drivers for guideline-users are the processes of 'selecting' appropriate guidelines and their subsequent 'translation' to an applied setting both of which can be prohibitively expensive. A strategy for producing guidelines is proposed, to minimize these costs, which is illustrated by the use of a case study concerned with the development of guidelines to assist in the production of management and administrative tools which will support project managers concerned with Human Factors Acceptance Testing. A process to support the assessment of guidelines is also proposed.     

The Challenges of Cross-Modal Translation: English-to-Sign-Language Translation in the Zardoz System

The sign languages used by deaf communities around the world represent a linguistic challenge that natural-language researchers in AI have only recently begun to take up. This challenge is particularly relevant to research in Machine Translation (MT), as natural sign languages have evolved in deaf communities into efficient modes of gestural communication, which differ from English not only in modality but in grammatical structure, exploiting a higher dimensionality of spatial expression. In this paper we describe Zardoz, an on-going AI research system that tackles the cross-modal MT problem, translating English text into fluid sign language. The paper presents an architectural overview of Zardoz, describing its central blackboard organization, the nature of its interlingual representation, and the major components which interact through this blackboard both to analyze the verbal input and generate the corresponding gestural output in one of a number of sign variants.     

Simulated annealing heuristics for the dynamic facility layout problem

In today's economy, manufacturing plants must be able to operate efficiently and respond quickly to changes in product mix and demand. Therefore, this paper considers the problem of arranging and rearranging (when there are changes between the flows of materials between departments) manufacturing facilities such that the sum of the material handling and rearrangement costs is minimized. This problem is known as the dynamic facility layout problem (DFLP). In this paper, two simulated annealing (SA) heuristics are developed for the DFLP. The first SA heuristic (SA I) is a direct adaptation of SA to the DFLP. The second SA heuristic (SA II) is the same as SA I with a look-ahead/look-back strategy added. To test the performance of the heuristics, a data set taken from the literature is used in the analysis. The results obtained show that the proposed heuristics are very effective for the dynamic facility layout problem.     

Life cycle environmental performance and improvement of a yogurt product delivery system

A life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate the environmental performance of the yogurt product delivery system used by Stonyfield Farm. A life cycle model was developed which included material production, manufacturing and disposition for primary and secondary packaging, as well as the related transportation links between these stages and filling, retail and the point of consumption. Product delivery systems (PDS) that utilized 4, 6, 8 and 32 oz polypropylene (PP) cups and 2 oz linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) tubes were analysed. Ten strategies for improving the environmental performance of these systems were proposed and their impacts on the total life cycle burden were analysed. The life cycle energy consumption for the 2, 4, 6, 8 and 32 oz containers was 4050, 4670, 5230, 4390 and 3620 MJ/1000 lb yogurt delivered to market, respectively. Material production of the primary packaging accounted for 58% of the life cycle energy, while Distribution 3 (yogurt delivery to distributors/retailers) alone accounted for one‐third of the life cycle total energy. The life cycle solid waste profile showed that as the container size decreased, the solid waste burden increased, from 27.3 kg (32 oz) to 42.8 kg (6 oz) per 1000 lb yogurt delivered to market. This relationship was even more pronounced for the 4 oz (47.5 kg) and 2 oz (56.2 kg) product delivery systems. The greatest potential improvements in the environmental performance of the PDS are achievable through redesigning the primary packaging and using alternative manufacturing techniques for the yogurt cups. Shifting from injection moulding to thermoforming of 32 oz container reduces the life cycle energy and solid waste by 18.6% and 19.5%, respectively, primarily due to light‐weighting. Elimination of lids for 6 oz and 8 oz containers provided similar benefits. Consumers purchasing yogurt in 32 oz instead of 6 oz containers can save 14.5% of the life cycle energy and decrease solid waste by 27.2%. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Physical Maltreatment Victim to Antisocial Child: Evidence of an Environmentally Mediated Process.

The well-documented finding that child physical maltreatment predicts later antisocial behavior has at least 2 explanations: (a) Physical maltreatment causes antisocial behavior, and (b) genetic factors transmitted from parents to children influence the likelihood that parents will be abusive and that children will engage in antisocial behavior. The authors tested these hypotheses in the representative Environmental-Risk cohort of 1,116 twin pairs and their families, who were assessed when the twins were 5 and 7 years old. Mothers reported on children's experience of physical maltreatment, and mothers and teachers reported on children's antisocial behavior. The findings support the hypothesis that physical maltreatment plays a causal role in the development of children's antisocial behavior and that preventing maltreatment can prevent its violent sequelae. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficient Approximation of Unsteady Friction Weighting Functions

A simple method is presented for evaluating wall shear stresses from known flow histories in unsteady pipe flows. The method builds on previous work by Trikha, but has two important differences. One of these enables the method to be used with much larger integration time steps than are acceptable with Trikha’s method. The other, a general procedure for determining approximations to weighting functions, enables it to be used at indefinitely small times (high frequencies). The method is applicable to both laminar and turbulent flows.     

Automated Quality Assessment of Stone Aggregates Based on Laser Imaging and a Neural Network

An automated quality assessment technique is proposed for rapidly detecting excessive size variations during the production of stone aggregates. The system uses a laser profiler to scan collections of aggregate particles and obtain three-dimensional data points on the particle surfaces. For computational efficiency, the resulting data are converted into digital images. Wavelet transforms are then applied to the images to extract features indicative of the material gradation. These wavelet-based features are used as inputs to an artificial neural network, which is trained to classify the aggregate sample. Taken together, these components form a neural network-based classification system that can determine whether or not an aggregate product is in compliance with a given specification. Verification tests show that this approach could potentially help to determine, in an accurate and fast (real-time) manner, when adjustments or repairs to the production equipment are needed.     

Estimation of sensitivity coefficients of nonlinear model input parameters which have a multinormal distribution

This paper considers the estimation of sensitivity coefficients based on sequential random sampling when the input parameters of a nonlinear model are correlated and have a multinormal distribution. Due to the difficulties in generating sequential random samples for correlated model inputs and the properties of response surface models, sampling-based (simulation- and experiment-based) methods could not be used to estimate sensitivity coefficients of correlated model inputs. For this reason, an algorithm based on multi-expressions of multinormal distribution has been developed and used to generate sequential random samples for estimation of sensitivity coefficients. The multi-expression approach has very high accuracy in generating multinormal random samples. The estimated sensitivity coefficients based on sequential random samples changed when sample size changed. Most estimates converged with a sample size of 5000. Model structure mainly determined the speed of convergence. Both correlation among input parameters and model structure influenced the estimates of sensitivity coefficients. The sensitivity coefficients were compared to global partial derivatives that were computed using numerical integration.