A development framework for artificial intelligence based distributed operations support systems

Advanced automation is required to reduce costly human operations support requirements for complex space-based and ground control systems. Existing knowledge based technologies have been used successfully to automate individual operations tasks. Considerably less progress has been made in integrating and coordinating multiple operations applications for unified intelligent support systems. To fill this gap, SOCIAL, a tool set for developing Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) systems is being constructed. SOCIAL consists of three primary language based components defining: models of interprocess communication across heterogeneous platforms; models for interprocess coordination, concurrency control, and fault management; and for accessing heterogeneous information resources. DAI applications subsystems, either new or existing, will access these distributed services non-intrusively, via high-level message-based protocols. SOCIAL will reduce the complexity of distributed communications, control, and integration, enabling developers to concentrate on the design and functionality of the target DAI system itself

Biotechnology and Industry 4.0: The professionals of the future

The process of developing technological research is being carried out beyond organizational boundaries, especially organizations that make intensive use of knowledge, such as Biotechnology. Considerable progress has been made in recent years in reducing costs and increasing the ease of gene sequencing and, ultimately, in activating or editing genes. In this context, discussions have been gaining prominence around Industry 4.0, in which new business models and intelligent processes for Biotechnology are evidenced. However, the challenges regarding the training and education of professionals are discussed, emphasizing the importance of a multidisciplinary education, unlike the more traditional nature of education in the areas of biology and sciences. These challenges can be partially transposed by strengthening the partnerships of universities and research centers with companies, in order to materialize in common projects, the demands of industries and the possibilities of transforming research projects into final products available to society. This paper presents a study on the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on Biotechnology, and also presents the prospect of future professions with the influence of Industry 4.0. The results show that technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and 3D printing are promising in the development and advancement of Biotechnology. New automated laboratories are under development. Also, regulatory issues require a great deal of study, and business models will need to be more efficient to generate the results needed for the development of new drugs, food, and research of new products related to health

An object based algebra for specifying a fault tolerant software architecture

AbstractIn this paper we present an algebra of actors extended with mechanisms to model crash failures and their detection. We show how this extended algebra of actors can be successfully used to specify distributed software architectures. The main components of a software architecture can be specified following an object-oriented style and then they can be composed using asynchronous message passing or more complex interaction patterns. This formal specification can be used to show that several requirements of a software system are satisfied at the architectural level despite failures. We illustrate this process by means of a case study: the specification of a software architecture for intelligent agents which supports a fault tolerant anonymous interaction protocol

Human-Machine Interfaces for Service Robotics

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Towards a simulation interoperability framework between an agent-based simulator and a BPMN engine using REST protocol

O paradigma atual de um modelo de processo de negócio é que é uma representação de uma sequência de tarefas que atuam sobre um “input” de dados, para produzir uma “output”, visando a produção de um novo serviço ou produto. Embora esta seja uma forma válida de interpretar um processo de negócio, ela não considera em pormenor a influência de fenómenos externos, por exemplo, comportamento humano, comunicação, interações sociais, a cultura organizacional que pode ter um efeito significativo na eficiência um processo de negócio. Como a dinâmica destes fenómenos externos não é linear, eles podem ser interpretados como um sistema complexo, que são sistemas que se comportam de tal forma que não podem ser explicados simplesmente olhando para o comportamento das suas partes individuais. Esta forma holística de pensar sobre os processos de negócio abre as portas à possibilidade de combinar diferentes métodos de simulação para modelar diferentes aspetos que influenciam um processo. A simulação baseada em agentes (ABS) e BPMN são escolhidas como os dois métodos de simulação para estudar o potencial dessa integração em processos de negócio, e a nossa abordagem para os combinar consiste em modelar o comportamento do utilizador em ABS e o próprio processo de negócio utilizando o BPMN. Por fim, a integração entre os dois motores de simulação acontece durante o decurso da simulação através da invocação de APIs usando o protocolo REST, onde os agentes controlam a dinâmica de execução do processo no BPMN. Esta abordagem de integração é validada através da construção de uma experiência, com o objetivo de determinar se os resultados de simulação obtidos são estatisticamente coerentesThe current paradigm of a business process model is that it is a representation of a sequence of tasks that act upon some data input, to produce an output, aiming the production of a new service or product to be delivered from a producer to a customer. Although this is a valid way of thinking, it neglects to consider in enough detail the influence of some phenomenon on inputs, e.g. human behaviour, communication, social interactions, the organisational culture which can have a significant effect on the output delivered by a business process. As the dynamics of these phenomena are non-linear, they can be interpreted as a complex system. This holistic way of thinking about business processes opens the doors to the possibility of combining different simulation methods to model different aspects that influence a process. A BPMN engine and an agent-based simulation (ABS) engine are chosen to serve the basis of our framework. In its conception, we not only consider the technical aspects of the framework but also delve into exploring its management and organizational dimensions, with the intent of facilitating its adoption in enterprises, as a tool to support decision support systems. We analyse how accurate the simulation results can be when using these two tools as well as what considerations need to be considered within organizations

Design and realisation of an integrated methodology for the analytical design of complex supply chains

Supply chain systems are inherently complex and are dynamically changing webs of relationships. Wider product variety, smaller production lot sizes, more tiers and different actors involved in coordinated supply chains also cause supply chain complexity and presents major challenges to production managers. This context has led modern organizations to implement new supply chain paradigms and adopt new techniques to support rapid design, analysis and implementation of the new paradigms. The present research focuses to develop an integrated methodology which can support the analytical design of complex supply chains. [Continues.

Efficient Communication and Coordination for Large-Scale Multi-Agent Systems

The growth of the computational power of computers and the speed of networks has made large-scale multi-agent systems a promising technology. As the number of agents in a single application approaches thousands or millions, distributed computing has become a general paradigm in large-scale multi-agent systems to take the benefits of parallel computing. However, since these numerous agents are located on distributed computers and interact intensively with each other to achieve common goals, the agent communication cost significantly affects the performance of applications. Therefore, optimizing the agent communication cost on distributed systems could considerably reduce the runtime of multi-agent applications. Furthermore, because static multi-agent frameworks may not be suitable for all kinds of applications, and the communication patterns of agents may change during execution, multi-agent frameworks should adapt their services to support applications differently according to their dynamic characteristics. This thesis proposes three adaptive services at the agent framework level to reduce the agent communication and coordination cost of large-scale multi-agent applications. First, communication locality-aware agent distribution aims at minimizing inter-node communication by collocating heavily communicating agents on the same platform and maintaining agent group-based load sharing. Second, application agent-oriented middle agent services attempt to optimize agent interaction through middle agents by executing application agent-supported search algorithms on the middle agent address space. Third, message passing for mobile agents aims at reducing the time of message delivery to mobile agents using location caches or by extending the agent address scheme with location information. With these services, we have achieved very impressive experimental results in large- scale UAV simulations including up to 10,000 agents. Also, we have provided a formal definition of our framework and services with operational semantics

IoT Health Devices: Exploring Security Risks in the Connected Landscape

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) spans decades, and the same can be said for its inclusion in healthcare. The IoT is an attractive target in medicine; it offers considerable potential in expanding care. However, the application of the IoT in healthcare is fraught with an array of challenges, and also, through it, numerous vulnerabilities that translate to wider attack surfaces and deeper degrees of damage possible to both consumers and their confidence within health systems, as a result of patient-specific data being available to access. Further, when IoT health devices (IoTHDs) are developed, a diverse range of attacks are possible. To understand the risks in this new landscape, it is important to understand the architecture of IoTHDs, operations, and the social dynamics that may govern their interactions. This paper aims to document and create a map regarding IoTHDs, lay the groundwork for better understanding security risks in emerging IoTHD modalities through a multi-layer approach, and suggest means for improved governance and interaction. We also discuss technological innovations expected to set the stage for novel exploits leading into the middle and latter parts of the 21st century