A Case Study of Using Domain Analysis for the Conflation Algorithms Domain

This paper documents the domain engineering process for much of the conflation algorithms domain. Empirical data on the process and products of domain engineering were collected. Six conflation algorithms of four different types: three affix removal, one successor variety, one table lookup, and one n-gram were analyzed. Products of the analysis include a generic architecture, reusable components, a little language and an application generator that extends the scope of the domain analysis beyond previous generators. The application generator produces source code for not only affix removal type but also successor variety, table lookup, and n-gram stemmers. The performance of the stemmers generated automatically was compared with the stemmers developed manually in terms of stem similarity, source and executable sizes, and development and execution times. All five stemmers generated by the application generator produced more than 99.9% identical stems with the manually developed stemmers. Some of the generated stemmers were as efficient as their manual equivalents and some were not

Predicting adaptive responses - simulating occupied environments

Simulation of building performance is increasingly being used in design practice to predict comfort of occupants in finished buildings. This is an area of great uncertainty: what actions does a person take when too warm or suffering from glare; how is comfort measured; how do groups of people interact to control environmental conditions, etc? An increasing attention to model these issues is evident in current research. Two issues are covered in this paper: how comfort can be assessed and what actions occupants are likely to make to achieve and maintain a comfortable status. The former issue describes the implementation of existing codes within a computational framework. This is non-trivial as information on local air velocities, radiant temperature and air temperature and relative humidity have to be predicted as they evolve over time in response to changing environmental conditions. This paper also presents a nascent algorithm for modelling occupant behaviour with respect to operable windows. The algorithm is based on results of several field studies which show the influence of internal and external temperatures on decision making in this respect. The derivation and implementation of the algorithm is discussed, highlighting areas where further effort could be of benefit

Evolution of Swarm Robotics Systems with Novelty Search

Novelty search is a recent artificial evolution technique that challenges traditional evolutionary approaches. In novelty search, solutions are rewarded based on their novelty, rather than their quality with respect to a predefined objective. The lack of a predefined objective precludes premature convergence caused by a deceptive fitness function. In this paper, we apply novelty search combined with NEAT to the evolution of neural controllers for homogeneous swarms of robots. Our empirical study is conducted in simulation, and we use a common swarm robotics task - aggregation, and a more challenging task - sharing of an energy recharging station. Our results show that novelty search is unaffected by deception, is notably effective in bootstrapping the evolution, can find solutions with lower complexity than fitness-based evolution, and can find a broad diversity of solutions for the same task. Even in non-deceptive setups, novelty search achieves solution qualities similar to those obtained in traditional fitness-based evolution. Our study also encompasses variants of novelty search that work in concert with fitness-based evolution to combine the exploratory character of novelty search with the exploitatory character of objective-based evolution. We show that these variants can further improve the performance of novelty search. Overall, our study shows that novelty search is a promising alternative for the evolution of controllers for robotic swarms.Comment: To appear in Swarm Intelligence (2013), ANTS Special Issue. The final publication will be available at link.springer.co

Computational tools for low energy building design : capabilities and requirements

Integrated building performance simulation (IBPS) is an established technology, with the ability to model the heat, mass, light, electricity and control signal flows within complex building/plant systems. The technology is used in practice to support the design of low energy solutions and, in Europe at least, such use is set to expand with the advent of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which mandates a modelling approach to legislation compliance. This paper summarises IBPS capabilities and identifies developments that aim to further improving integrity vis-à-vis the reality

Mistakes in medical ontologies: Where do they come from and how can they be detected?

We present the details of a methodology for quality assurance in large medical terminologies and describe three algorithms that can help terminology developers and users to identify potential mistakes. The methodology is based in part on linguistic criteria and in part on logical and ontological principles governing sound classifications. We conclude by outlining the results of applying the methodology in the form of a taxonomy different types of errors and potential errors detected in SNOMED-CT

A co-operating solver approach to building simulation

This paper describes the co-operating solver approach to building simulation as encapsulated within the ESP-r system. Possible adaptations are then considered to accommodate new functional requirements