lagache@violet.berkeley.edu (Edouard Lagache) (04/17/88)
I attended a lecture by Hubert Dreyfus on the problems in
Artificial Intelligence, and he mentioned that he was aware of only 2
Expert systems that work as well or better than the human experts that
they were based on. What does this have to do with trains? Well, one
of the systems (called ALPS) is designed to optimally load a cargo
planes, which is a problem that looks isomorphic with the problem of
loading a railroad switch yard.
That raises an interesting question for those interested in
computers and trains: what sort of expert systems have developed for
the railroad industry? It seems to me that there are a number of
promising areas:
1.) Scheduling.
2.) Optimal switching moves and train assembly.
3.) Cargo routing and loading.
4.) Equipment Maintenance.
Does anyone know of what work (if any) has been done by railroads
or A.I. outfits in this area? Interestingly enough, Dreyfus would
probably claim that the first 3 areas would be very promising domains
for expert systems.
Edouard Lagache
School of Education
U.C. Berkeley
lagache@violet.berkeley.edu
P.S. I has posted this to both 'rec.railroad', and 'comp.ai'. Please
don't reply to both groups unless it is truly of general interest.jaw@mtgzy.UUCP (XMRN60000[bsm]-j.a.welsh) (04/19/88)
> What sort of expert systems have developed for the railroad > industry? Strangely enough, the one that I know of is a General Electric locomotive maintenance expert system. It was mentioned in a computer magazine and one of the railfanning mags. last year.
tony_mak_makonnen@cup.portal.com (04/20/88)
> What sort of expert systems have developed for the railroad > industry? Strangely enough, the one that I know of is a General Electric locomotive maintenance expert system. It was mentioned in a computer magazine and one of the railfanning mags. last year. yes and it was finally coded in Forth.
welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) (04/21/88)
Someone wrote: * What sort of expert systems have developed for the railroad * industry? In article <4643@cup.portal.com> tony_mak_makonnen@cup.portal.com writes: >Strangely enough, the one that I know of is a General Electric locomotive >maintenance expert system. It was mentioned in a computer magazine and >one of the railfanning mags. last year. >yes and it was finally coded in Forth. It was written here at GE R&D, a few years back, for use on GE locomotives (in a group that was a precursor to the AI program that I work in now. I was not involved in the project itself, which was completed long before I joined the program). Reportedly, it has had good success in speeding up diagnosis of problems in locomotives in the field. -- Richard Welty Phone H: 518-237-6307 W: 518-387-6346 welty@ge-crd.ARPA {rochester,philabs,uunet}!steinmetz!welty ``Avalanche is better than none'' -- Bullwinkle Moose