Discerning the Role Context Plays in the Value of Information

For the military, effective human-agent teaming requires a shared understanding between the human and the intelligent agents acting on their behalf. One of the central challenges associated with developing this shared understanding originates at the information level. The simple fact is while all information may be created equal, the value of information is not. Confounding this calculation is the knowledge that the true value of information is dependent not only on its source, content and latency, but just as importantly on the context of the situation in which it is being exercised. Building upon previous research aimed at codifying the value of information, this paper presents a multi-facetted experiment meant to discern a Soldier’s value of information within varying military contexts. Initial results reveal that context plays a significant role in how information is valued and more importantly provides a foundation for strengthening human-agent information understanding and collaboration

Temporal fuzzy association rule mining with 2-tuple linguistic representation

This paper reports on an approach that contributes towards the problem of discovering fuzzy association rules that exhibit a temporal pattern. The novel application of the 2-tuple linguistic representation identifies fuzzy association rules in a temporal context, whilst maintaining the interpretability of linguistic terms. Iterative Rule Learning (IRL) with a Genetic Algorithm (GA) simultaneously induces rules and tunes the membership functions. The discovered rules were compared with those from a traditional method of discovering fuzzy association rules and results demonstrate how the traditional method can loose information because rules occur at the intersection of membership function boundaries. New information can be mined from the proposed approach by improving upon rules discovered with the traditional method and by discovering new rules

Intelligent controllers for velocity tracking of two wheeled inverted pendulum mobile robot

Velocity tracking is one of the important objectives of vehicle, machines and mobile robots. A two wheeled inverted pendulum (TWIP) is a class of mobile robot that is open loop unstable with high nonlinearities which makes it difficult to control its velocity because of its nature of pitch falling if left unattended. In this work, three soft computing techniques were proposed to track a desired velocity of the TWIP. Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC), Neural Network Inverse Model control (NN) and an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) were designed and simulated on the TWIP model. All the three controllers have shown practically good performance in tracking the desired speed and keeping the robot in upright position and ANFIS has shown slightly better performance than FLC, while NN consumes more energy

Learning Control of Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Fuzzy Neural Networks

A learning control strategy is preferred for the control and guidance of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to deal with lack of modeling and flight uncertainties. For learning the plant model as well as changing working conditions online, a fuzzy neural network (FNN) is used in parallel with a conventional P (proportional) controller. Among the learning algorithms in the literature, a derivative-free one, sliding mode control (SMC) theory-based learning algorithm, is preferred as it has been proved to be computationally efficient in real-time applications. Its proven robustness and finite time converging nature make the learning algorithm appropriate for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle as the computational power is always limited in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The parameter update rules and stability conditions of the learning are derived, and the proof of the stability of the learning algorithm is shown by using a candidate Lyapunov function. Intensive simulations are performed to illustrate the applicability of the proposed controller which includes the tracking of a three-dimensional trajectory by the UAV subject to time-varying wind conditions. The simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed control algorithm, especially in real-time control systems because of its computational efficiency

Fusion of an Ensemble of Augmented Image Detectors for Robust Object Detection

A significant challenge in object detection is accurate identification of an object's position in image space, whereas one algorithm with one set of parameters is usually not enough, and the fusion of multiple algorithms and/or parameters can lead to more robust results. Herein, a new computational intelligence fusion approach based on the dynamic analysis of agreement among object detection outputs is proposed. Furthermore, we propose an online versus just in training image augmentation strategy. Experiments comparing the results both with and without fusion are presented. We demonstrate that the augmented and fused combination results are the best, with respect to higher accuracy rates and reduction of outlier influences. The approach is demonstrated in the context of cone, pedestrian and box detection for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) applications.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, journal paper, MDPI Sensors, 201

Big data analytics:Computational intelligence techniques and application areas

Big Data has significant impact in developing functional smart cities and supporting modern societies. In this paper, we investigate the importance of Big Data in modern life and economy, and discuss challenges arising from Big Data utilization. Different computational intelligence techniques have been considered as tools for Big Data analytics. We also explore the powerful combination of Big Data and Computational Intelligence (CI) and identify a number of areas, where novel applications in real world smart city problems can be developed by utilizing these powerful tools and techniques. We present a case study for intelligent transportation in the context of a smart city, and a novel data modelling methodology based on a biologically inspired universal generative modelling approach called Hierarchical Spatial-Temporal State Machine (HSTSM). We further discuss various implications of policy, protection, valuation and commercialization related to Big Data, its applications and deployment

Sensitivity analysis applied to fuzzy inference on the value of information in the oil and gas industry.

Value of information is a widely accepted methodology for evaluating the need to acquire new data in the oil and gas industry. In the conventional approach to estimating the value of information, the outcomes of a project assessment relate to the decision reached by following Boolean logic. However, human thinking is based on a more complex logic that includes the ability to process uncertainty. In value of information assessment, it is often desirable to make decisions based on multiple economic criteria which, if independently evaluated, may suggest opposite decisions. Artificial intelligence has been used successfully in several areas of knowledge, increasing and enhancing analytical capabilities. This paper aims at enriching the value of information methodology by integrating fuzzy logic into the decision-making process; this integration makes it possible to develop a human thinking assessment and coherently combine several economic criteria. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first use of a fuzzy inference system in the specified knowledge domain. The methodology is successfully applied to a case study of an oil and gas subsurface assessment where the results of the standard and fuzzy methodologies are compared, leading to a more robust and complete evaluation. Sensitivity analysis is undertaken for several membership functions used in the case study to assess the impact that shifting, narrowing and stretching the membership relationship has on the value of information. The results of the sensitivity study show that, depending on the shifting, the membership functions lead to different decisions; additional sensitivities to the type of membership functions are investigated, including the functions’ parameters

Fuzzy data analysis methodology for the assessment of value of information in the oil and gas industry.

To manage uncertainty in reservoir development projects, the Value of Information is one of the main factors on which the decision is based to determine whether it is necessary to acquire additional data. However, subsurface data is not always precise and is characterized by a certain level of fuzziness. In this paper, a model is formulated to assess the Value of Information in the oil and gas industry in cases where the data proposed to be acquired is imprecise. The methodology is based on the use of fuzzy data modelling and analysis aimed at providing decision support for oil field developers. An oilfield from North Africa is used as a case study to show how the methodology works. This work shows how the analysis can be utilized to reach financial decisions on the necessity of additional data acquisition

From interval-valued data to general type-2 fuzzy sets

In this paper, a new approach is presented to model interval-based data using fuzzy sets (FSs). Specifically, we show how both crisp and uncertain intervals (where there is uncertainty about the endpoints of intervals) collected from individual or multiple survey participants over single or repeated surveys can be modeled using type-1, interval type-2, or general type-2 FSs based on zSlices. The proposed approach is designed to minimize any loss of information when transferring the interval-based data into FS models, and to avoid, as much as possible, assumptions about the distribution of the data. Furthermore, our approach does not rely on data preprocessing or outlier removal, which can lead to the elimination of important information. Different types of uncertainty contained within the data, namely intra- and inter-source uncertainty, are identified and modeled using the different degrees of freedom of type-2 FSs, thus providing a clear representation and separation of these individual types of uncertainty present in the data. We provide full details of the proposed approach, as well as a series of detailed examples based on both real-world and synthetic data. We perform comparisons with analogue techniques to derive FSs from intervals, namely the interval approach and the enhanced interval approach, and highlight the practical applicability of the proposed approach