Using Bayesian Statistics to Model the Reliability of Complex Weapon Systems

This work describes a Bayesian model for assessing the reliability of complex systems using component tests, full system tests, and covariate information. Development of the model focused on understanding the relationship between component reliability and system reliability; and defining this relationship using mathematical expressions. The method in this thesis uses pass/fail data coupled with different levels of prior information about system reliability and covariate information to derive posterior distributions that model component and system reliability. This work provides insights on how the number of components, amount of prior information used, inclusion of covariates and spread of failures across components affects point estimates and densities for system reliability. The methodology in this paper is tested using simulated data weapons system test data

A distributed architecture to implement a prognostic function for complex systems

The proactivity in maintenance management is improved by the implementation of CBM (Condition-Based Maintenance) principles and of PHM (Prognostic and Health Management). These implementations use data about the health status of the systems. Among them, prognostic data make it possible to evaluate the future health of the systems. The Remaining Useful Lifetimes (RULs) of the components is frequently required to prognose systems. However, the availability of complex systems for productive tasks is often expressed in terms of RULs of functions and/or subsystems; those RULs have to bring information about the components. Indeed, the maintenance operators must know what components need maintenance actions in order to increase the RULs of the functions or subsystems, and consequently the availability of the complex systems for longer tasks or more productive tasks. This paper aims at defining a generic prognostic function of complex systems aiming at prognosing its functions and at enabling the isolation of components that needs maintenance actions. The proposed function requires knowledge about the system to be prognosed. The corresponding models are detailed. The proposed prognostic function contains graph traversal so its distribution is proposed to speed it up. It is carried out by generic agents

SeeBridge Information Delivery Manual (IDM) for Next Generation Bridge Inspection

Innovative solutions for rapid and intelligent survey and assessment methods are required in maintenance, repair, retrofit and rebuild of enormous numbers of bridges in service throughout the world. Motivated by this need, a next-generation integrated bridge inspection system named SeeBridge is proposed. To frame the system, an Information Delivery Manual (IDM) was compiled to specify the technical components, activities and information exchanges in the SeeBridge process. The IDM supports development of the system by rigorously defining the information and data repositories that structure bridge engineers’ knowledge. The SeeBridge process is mapped, parts of the data repositories are presented and the future use of the IDM is discussed

SeeBridge information delivery manual (IDM) for next generation bridge inspection

Innovative solutions for rapid and intelligent survey and assessment methods are required in maintenance, repair, retrofit and rebuild of enormous numbers of bridges in service throughout the world. Motivated by this need, a next-generation integrated bridge inspection system named SeeBridge is proposed. To frame the system, an Information Delivery Manual (IDM) was compiled to specify the technical components, activities and information exchanges in the SeeBridge process. The IDM supports development of the system by rigorously defining the information and data repositories that structure bridge engineers' knowledge. The SeeBridge process is mapped, parts of the data repositories are presented and the future use of the IDM is discussed

Collaborative Development and Evaluation of Text-processing Workflows in a UIMA-supported Web-based Workbench

Challenges in creating comprehensive text-processing worklows include a lack of the interoperability of individual components coming from different providers and/or a requirement imposed on the end users to know programming techniques to compose such workflows. In this paper we demonstrate Argo, a web-based system that addresses these issues in several ways. It supports the widely adopted Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA), which handles the problem of interoperability; it provides a web browser-based interface for developing workflows by drawing diagrams composed of a selection of available processing components; and it provides novel user-interactive analytics such as the annotation editor which constitutes a bridge between automatic processing and manual correction. These features extend the target audience of Argo to users with a limited or no technical background. Here, we focus specifically on the construction of advanced workflows, involving multiple branching and merging points, to facilitate various comparative evalutions. Together with the use of user-collaboration capabilities supported in Argo, we demonstrate several use cases including visual inspections, comparisions of multiple processing segments or complete solutions against a reference standard, inter-annotator agreement, and shared task mass evaluations. Ultimetely, Argo emerges as a one-stop workbench for defining, processing, editing and evaluating text processing tasks

Contribution to Local Landscape Units definition in OTALEX II

OTALEX II is the Territorial and Environmental Observatory of Alentejo (Portugal) and Extremadura (Spain), co-financed by POCTEP, developed with the cross-border collaboration of several Portuguese and Spanish bodies. It is composed of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) created in 2007, SDI-OTALEX (www.ideotalex.eu), which is an exchange platform for geographic information and Webmapping services among project partners. The integration of environmental indicators such as landscape indicators, for the characterization and monitoring of the Alentejo Extremadura area is one of the most relevant components of the project. This paper reports the achievements in defining Local Landscape Units (LLU) for a pilot area of Central Alentejo – the Pardiela river basin. The methodological approach applied Geographic Information System tools to integrate soils, geomorphology and land cover. The land cover map applies the CORINE Land Cover Legend Level 5 to Central Alentejo at a scale of 1 : 10,000. This map contains variables related to vegetation, hydrology (streams and water bodies) and human settlements (buildings, equipment, roads). The validation of the results obtained for LLU with previously defined Landscape Units and potential vegetation mapping confirm the reliability and replicability of the present methodology for similar territories

Index theory of one dimensional quantum walks and cellular automata

If a one-dimensional quantum lattice system is subject to one step of a reversible discrete-time dynamics, it is intuitive that as much "quantum information" as moves into any given block of cells from the left, has to exit that block to the right. For two types of such systems - namely quantum walks and cellular automata - we make this intuition precise by defining an index, a quantity that measures the "net flow of quantum information" through the system. The index supplies a complete characterization of two properties of the discrete dynamics. First, two systems S_1, S_2 can be pieced together, in the sense that there is a system S which locally acts like S_1 in one region and like S_2 in some other region, if and only if S_1 and S_2 have the same index. Second, the index labels connected components of such systems: equality of the index is necessary and sufficient for the existence of a continuous deformation of S_1 into S_2. In the case of quantum walks, the index is integer-valued, whereas for cellular automata, it takes values in the group of positive rationals. In both cases, the map S -> ind S is a group homomorphism if composition of the discrete dynamics is taken as the group law of the quantum systems. Systems with trivial index are precisely those which can be realized by partitioned unitaries, and the prototypes of systems with non-trivial index are shifts.Comment: 38 pages. v2: added examples, terminology clarifie

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