Steven.Minton@K.CS.CMU.EDU (11/19/86)
This week's seminar is being given by Robert Coyne and Tim Glavin. As usual, Friday, 3:15 in 7220. ABSTRACT: We report on work in progress on a generative expert system for the design of building layouts that can be adapted to various problem domains. The system does not reproduce the behavior of human designers; rather, it intends to complement their performance through (a) its ability to systematically search for alternative solutions with promising trade-offs; and (b) its ability to take a broad range of design concerns into account. Work on the system also aims at providing insights into the applicability of artificial intelligence techniques to space planning and building design in general. Spacial relations between the objects to be allocated serve as basic design variables which define differences between layouts. They are represented by a novel scheme, called an orthogonal structure, which allows us to enumerate layouts in an abstract space, following a 'least commitment' strategy with regard to details such as the dimensions of the objects. The representation, and the generator based on it, are general and flexible enough to allow generation of layouts in various 'domains'. The knowledge required to distinguish good or 'best' layouts in particular domains is located in special testers which are to be built up through the process of 'knowledge acquisition' as it typically occurs in the development of expert systems.