Multi-Agent Planning with Planning Graph

In this paper, we consider planning for multi-agents situations in STRIPS-like domains with planning graph. Three possible relationships between agents' goals are considered in order to evaluate plans: the agents may be collaborative, adversarial or indifferent entities. We propose algorithms to deal with each situation. The collaborative situations can be easily dealt with the original Graphplan algorithm by redefining the domain in a proper way. Forward-chaining and backward chaining algorithms are discussed to find infallible plans in adversarial situations. In case such plans cannot be found, the agent can still attempt to find a plan for achieving some part of the goals. A forward-chaining algorithm is also proposed to find plans for agents with independent goals

A pragmatic approach to semantic repositories benchmarking

The aim of this paper is to benchmark various semantic repositories in order to evaluate their deployment in a commercial image retrieval and browsing application. We adopt a two-phase approach for evaluating the target semantic repositories: analytical parameters such as query language and reasoning support are used to select the pool of the target repositories, and practical parameters such as load and query response times are used to select the best match to application requirements. In addition to utilising a widely accepted benchmark for OWL repositories (UOBM), we also use a real-life dataset from the target application, which provides us with the opportunity of consolidating our findings. A distinctive advantage of this benchmarking study is that the essential requirements for the target system such as the semantic expressivity and data scalability are clearly defined, which allows us to claim contribution to the benchmarking methodology for this class of applications

The nature and evaluation of commercial expert system building tools, revision 1

This memorandum reviews the factors that constitute an Expert System Building Tool (ESBT) and evaluates current tools in terms of these factors. Evaluation of these tools is based on their structure and their alternative forms of knowledge representation, inference mechanisms and developer end-user interfaces. Next, functional capabilities, such as diagnosis and design, are related to alternative forms of mechanization. The characteristics and capabilities of existing commercial tools are then reviewed in terms of these criteria

ERDS: Emerging Risks Detection Support : 2007 project report

Rapport over het detecteren van risico's met de veiligheid van voeding. Aan de hand van het melamineschandaal wordt gekeken hoe in een vroegtijdig stadium risico's onderkend kunnen worde

Information seeking retrieval, reading and storing behaviour of library users

In the interest of digital libraries, it is advisable that designers be aware of the potential behaviour of the users of such a system. There are two distinct parts under investigation, the interaction between traditional libraries involving the seeking and retrieval of relevant material, and the reading and storage behaviours ensuing. Through this analysis, the findings could be incorporated into digital library facilities. There has been copious amounts of research on information seeking leading to the development of behavioural models to describe the process. Often research on the information seeking practices of individuals is based on the task and field of study. The information seeking model, presented by Ellis et al. (1993), characterises the format of this study where it is used to compare various research on the information seeking practices of groups of people (from academics to professionals). It is found that, although researchers do make use of library facilities, they tend to rely heavily on their own collections and primarily use the library as a source for previously identified information, browsing and interloan. It was found that there are significant differences in user behaviour between the groups analysed. When looking at the reading and storage of material it was hard to draw conclusions, due to the lack of substantial research and information on the topic. However, through the use of reading strategies, a general idea on how readers behave can be developed. Designers of digital libraries can benefit from the guidelines presented here to better understand their audience