[net.ai] AIList Digest V3 #91

LAWS@SRI-AI.ARPA (07/10/85)

From: AIList Moderator Kenneth Laws <AIList-REQUEST@SRI-AI>


AIList Digest           Wednesday, 10 Jul 1985     Volume 3 : Issue 91

Today's Topics:
  Seminars - Shape from Function (GMR)   [correction] &
    A Mathematical Theory of Plan Synthesis (SU) &
    Object Model of Information (SU) &
    Expert Systems and Databases (CMU) &
    Expert System for Grease Selection (CMU),
  Conference - Canadian AI Conference

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Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 14:14 EST
From: "S. Holland" <holland%gmr.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>
Subject: Seminar - Shape from Function (GMR)   [correction]

                       SHAPE FROM FUNCTION VIA MOTION ANALYSIS
                     with Application to the Automatic Design of
                    Orienting Devices for Vibratory Part Feeders

                               Dr. Tomas Lozano-Perez
                           MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
                                Cambridge, MA.  02139

                       Wednesday, August 14, 1985, 11:00 a.m.

                        General Motors Research Laboratories
                           Computer Science Department
                          Warren, Michigan  48090-9057

[It seems I introduced a typo (GE) when I distributed this seminar notice.
Steve Holland informs me that this talk will be held at GMR and that Tomas
is reachable at tlp%mit-oz@mit-mc or via u.s. mail to MIT AI Lab.  -- KIL]

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Date: Tue 9 Jul 85 17:41:40-PDT
From: Ed Pednault <PEDNAULT@SRI-AI.ARPA>
Subject: PhD Orals - A Mathematical Theory of Plan Synthesis (SU)


            Toward a Mathematical Theory of Plan Synthesis

                         Edwin P.D. Pednault
                        Electrical Engineering

                      Thursday, July 18, 2:15pm
                    Margaret Jacks Hall, Room 146


Planning problems have the following form: given a set of goals, a set
of allowable actions and a description of the current state of the world,
find a sequence of actions that will transform the world from its current
state to a state in which all of the goals are satisfied.  This talk is a
presentation of my thesis research which examines the question of how to
solve planning problems automatically.  The question of plan synthesis will
be addressed from a rigorous, mathematical standpoint in contrast to the
informal and highly experimental treatments found in most previous works.
By introducing mathematical rigor, it has been possible to unify many
existing ideas in automatic planning, showing how they arise from first
principles and how they may be applied to solve a much broader class of
problems than had previously been considered.  In addition, some entirely
new ideas have been developed and a number of theorems have been proved
that further our understanding of the synthesis problem.  The talk will
concentrate on my techniques for plan synthesis with only a brief summary
of the other contributions of my research.  A mathematical framework for
studying planning problems will be introduced and a number of theorems
will be presented that form the basis for the synthesis techniques.
These theorems will then be combined with a least-commitment search
strategy to obtain a solution method that unifies and generalizes
means-ends analysis, opportunistic planning, goal protection, goal
regression, constraint posting/propagation, hierarchical planning and
nonlinear planning.

------------------------------

Date: Mon 8 Jul 85 15:30:17-PDT
From: David Beech <BEECH@SU-SCORE.ARPA>
Subject: Seminar - An Object Model of Information (SU)


The first Database Seminar of the summer quarter will be this Friday,
12th July, at 3:15 in MJH 352.

For information, please contact Beech@Score or call 497-9118.


 TOWARDS AN OBJECT MODEL OF THE REPRESENTATION AND USE OF INFORMATION

                          David Beech

               Stanford CIS and HP Laboratories


Future general-purpose information systems will need to deal with a
wide range of information, and offer flexible access to it, if they
are to appeal to the potential millions of non-specialist users.
For example, they should process pictures and sounds as naturally as
numbers and texts; they should answer questions which require some
deduction from the often incomplete information previously given to
the system; and they should move towards the support of natural
language interfaces, including spoken inputs.

An object-oriented model of the representation and use of information
is proposed, with the necessary generality for the description and
design of such systems.  Fundamental concepts including those of
agent, object, type, action, formula, process, transaction, predicator
and generator are introduced.  Recursive functions, predicate calculus,
and n-ary relations are brought together in a data abstraction framework,
with an emphasis on intensional definition of concepts and their
instantiation by means of predicators and generators.

------------------------------

Date: 8 Jul 85 10:19:59 EDT
From: Mary.Lou.Maher@CMU-RI-CIVE
Subject: Seminar - Expert Systems and Databases (CMU)


            DESIGN RESEARCH CENTER BI-WEEKLY SEMINAR SERIES

               Interfacing Expert Systems and Databases
               for Structural Engineering Applications
                                by
                           Craig Howard

  Wednesday, July 10 at 1:30 pm in the Adamson Wing, Baker Hall
    *******  Refreshments will be served at 1:15   *******

Artificial intelligence programming techniques, specifically expert systems
and knowledge-based systems (KBS), are being applied to a broad range of
engineering problems.  However, most prototype expert system applications
are restricted to limited amounts of data and have no facility for
sophisticated data management.  As expert systems are integrated into
engineering computing systems, the data management capabilities of these
systems must be adapted to serve these new components.  The presentation
describes work underway to develop a flexible interface in which multiple
expert systems and multiple design databases communicate as independent,
self-descriptive components within an integrated structural engineering
computing environment.

------------------------------

Date: 8 Jul 85 13:17:54 EDT
From: Jeanne.Bennardo@CMU-RI-ISL1
Subject: Seminar - Expert System for Grease Selection (CMU)

                Intelligent Systems Lab Seminar

Topic:    Presentation of Grease Project
Speaker:  Dr. Peter Spirtes
Place:    DH3313
Date:     Wednesday, July 10
Time:     10:00am - 11:00am

The Grease project is an expert system that is intended to aid in the
choice or design of a proper cutting fluid for a metal machining operation.
It is currently under development at the Intelligent Systems Lab in
cooperation with Gulf Oil Company.  Cutting fluids can extend tool life and
improve finish by providing lubrication and cooling, and by preventing the
welding of the metal being machined to the machining tool.  The goal is to
find a cutting fluid which will make a machining operation as economical as
possible by finding the best trade-off between the price of a cutting fluid
and the amount that it extends tool life.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 3 Jul 85 17:10:09 pdt
From: Bill Havens <havens%ubc.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>
Subject: Conference - Canadian AI Conference


               C A L L   F O R   P A P E R S

        Canadian Artificial Intelligence Conference

                      C S C S I - 8 6

                      Montreal, Canada

                    May 21 - 23,  1986

Sponsored by the

                    Canadian Society for

           Computational Studies of Intelligence


     The Sixth National Conference of the CSCSI invites sub-
mission  of  theoretical  and applied research papers in all
areas  of  Artificial  Intelligence  research,  particularly
those listed below:

        o Knowledge Representation
        o Computer Vision
        o Natural Language Understanding
        o Expert Systems and Applications
        o Logic Programming and Formal Reasoning
        o Robotics
        o Planning, Problem Solving and Learning
        o Cognitive Science
        o Social Aspects of AI
        o AI Architecture, Languages and Tools

     All submissions will be fully refereed by  the  program
committee.   Authors are requested to prepare full papers of
no more than 5000 words in length and specify in which  area
they  wish their papers reviewed.  All papers should contain
concise clear descriptions of significant  contributions  to
Artificial  Intelligence  research with proper references to
the relevant literature.  Figures and  illustrations  should
be professionally drawn.

     Three copies of each submitted paper  must  be  in  the
hands  of  the Program Chairman by December 31, 1985.  Elec-
tronic submissions are unfortunately  not  acceptable.   All
accepted papers will be published in the conference proceed-
ings.

     Correspondence should be addressed to either  the  Gen-
eral Chair or the Program Chair, as appropriate.

General Chair:

        Renato De Mori
        Department of Computer Science
        Concordia University
        Montreal, P.Q.  H3G 1M8
        CANADA

Program Chair:

        Bill Havens
        Department of Computer Science
        University of British Columbia
        Vancouver, B.C.  V6T 1W5
        CANADA
        Network Address:  havens@ubc.CSNET

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