rthien@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (mr rj thien) (03/25/91)
Doug,
I did write quite a long reply to you but unfortunately it did
not quite reach you.
Just in case I have not introduced myself, I am a Master's student
in Monash Uni (Caulfield) currently undertaking research work in the
area of Robotics where a key component of my project deals with expert
system tools and development.
I understand the plight of the students as I too was ES naive
before I embarked on undertaking this project. I spent the early part
of my research evaluating ES tools. One was "Nexpert Object" and the
other "CLIPS".
Although "Nexpert Object" is good for people who have little or
no experience in ES, it is very expensive. It can handle the integra-
tion of user-defined routines written in "C" and also handle graphics.
The user interface is superb and graphical aids help you to visualize
how the knowledge is structured and debugging tools is excellent.
If our project funds were good, this would be the ES tool of
choice for developing applications, but a X-window version is too
pricey.
The second ES tool I tested which we are using now is "CLIPS".
This tool provides a programming language with LISP-like structure.
It is a bit difficult to use at first since I came from a procedural
programming background.
Another good thing about this package is that all source code is
provided so if you want to add any of your functions eg. graphics
routines, it can be easily performed. Also, the documentation includes
a primer to ES so it might be helpful for the students. The best
asset of CLIPS is the speed at which processes the knowledge, good
for diagnostic applications.
The current version of CLIPS is Version 5 and is often nicknamed
COOL as it supports Object-Oriented programming. It cost around
US$250 and I think educational institutions get a discounted price.
The contact address:
COSMIC
382 E. Broad St.
Athens, GA 30602
Tel:(404) 542-3265
I have developed applications using this tool to simulate
a robot assembly task and have incorporated functions defined by me
to feed input into the simulation.
I hope you find this information useful. Do not hesitate to
email me if you have any queries.
Good Luck.......
Roger!