Pilot interaction with automated airborne decision making systems

Two project areas were pursued: the intelligent cockpit and human problem solving. The first area involves an investigation of the use of advanced software engineering methods to aid aircraft crews in procedure selection and execution. The second area is focused on human problem solving in dynamic environments, particulary in terms of identification of rule-based models land alternative approaches to training and aiding. Progress in each area is discussed

Control system design using artificial intelligence

Includes bibliography.Successful multivariable control system design demands knowledge, skill and creativity of the designer. The goal of the research described in this dissertation was to investigate, implement, and evaluate methods by which artificial intelligence techniques, in a broad sense, may be used in a design system to assist the user. An intelligent, interactive, control system design tool has been developed to fulfil this aim. The design tool comprises two main components; an expert system on the upper level, and a powerful CACSD package on the lower level. The expert system has been constructed to assist and guide the designer in using the facilities provided by the underlying CACSD package. Unlike other expert systems, the user is also aided in formulating and refining a comprehensive and achievable design specification, and in dealing with conflicts which may arise within this specification. The assistance is aimed at both novice and experienced designers. The CACSD package includes a synthesis program which attempts to find a controller that satisfies the design specification. The synthesis program is based upon a recent factorization theory approach, where the linear multivariable control system design problem is translated into, and techniques efficiency solved as, a quadratic programming problem, which significantly improve the time and space of this method have been developed, making it practical to solve substantial multivariable design problems using only a microcomputer. The design system has been used by students at the University of Cape Town. Designs produced using the expert system tool are compared against those produced using classical design methods

Making intelligent systems team players: Case studies and design issues. Volume 1: Human-computer interaction design

Initial results are reported from a multi-year, interdisciplinary effort to provide guidance and assistance for designers of intelligent systems and their user interfaces. The objective is to achieve more effective human-computer interaction (HCI) for systems with real time fault management capabilities. Intelligent fault management systems within the NASA were evaluated for insight into the design of systems with complex HCI. Preliminary results include: (1) a description of real time fault management in aerospace domains; (2) recommendations and examples for improving intelligent systems design and user interface design; (3) identification of issues requiring further research; and (4) recommendations for a development methodology integrating HCI design into intelligent system design

A theoretical framework for computer models of cooperative dialogue, acknowledging multi-agent conflict

This thesis describes a theoretical framework for modelling cooperative dialogue. The linguistic theory is a version of speech act theory adopted from Cohen and Levesque, in which dialogue utterances are generated and interpreted pragmatically in the context of a theory of rational interaction. The latter is expressed as explicitly and formally represented principles of rational agenthood and cooperative interaction. The focus is the development of strategic principles of multi-agent interaction as such a basis for cooperative dialogue. In contrast to the majority of existing work, these acknowledge the Positive role of conflict to multi-agent cooperation. and make no assumptions regarding the benevolence and sincerity of agents. The result is a framework wherein agents can resolve conflicts by negotiation. It is a preliminary stage to the future building of computer models of cooperative dialogue for both HCI and DAI, which will therefore be more widely and generally applicable than those currently in existence. The theory of conflict and cooperation is expressed in the different patterns of mental states which characterise multi-agent conflict, cooperation and indifference as three alternative postural relations. Agents can recognise and potentially create these. Dialogue actions are the strategic tools with which mental states can be manipulated, whilst acknowledging that agents are autonomous over their mental states; they have control over what they acquire and reveal in dialogue. Strategic principles of belief and goal adoption are described in terms of the relationships between autonomous agents' beliefs, goals, preferences, and interests, and the relation of these to action. Veracity, mendacity, concealing and revealing are defined as properties of acts. The role of all these elements in reasoning about dialogue action and conflict resolution, is tester in analyses of two example dialogues; a record of a real trade union negotiation and an extract from "Othello" by Shakespeare

The Application of Expert Systems to Small Scale Map Designs

The increased availability of inexpensive computer mapping programs in recent years has lead to a great increase in the number of map authors and the number of maps being produced, but does not however appear to have lead to more widespread knowledge of cartographic design theory. The large number of poorly designed maps created by users of these computer systems indicates that there is a lack of knowledge of how to design maps. These poorly designed maps are not the fault of the computer programs, since most programs do have the capability of producing well designed maps when used by someone knowledgeable in map design. Rather, the problem lies with map authors who are not skilled in cartographic design and who would probably never produce a map by conventional means, but would contract a cartographer to produce it. What is required are programs to be used by naive map authors that are better able to produce reasonably well designed maps, or at least maps which do not break the most fundamental rules of map design. The area of computer science devoted to producing programs that include knowledge of how an expert solves a problem is that of Expert Systems. An Expert System is essentially a program which includes a codified form of the rules that an expert uses to solve a problem. Thus a cartographic design expert system would include the rules a cartographer uses when designing a map. This study examines the fields of artificial intelligence and expert system to assess how they may best be applied to the map design problem. A comprehensive review of the application of expert systems in design, mapping generally and map design in particular is also provided. In order to develop an expert system, the problem or 'domain' must be defined in a relatively formal manner. A structure for describing geographic information and cartographic representation is developed and a model of the cartographic design process for application in expert systems is also described. Based on the models developed, a functional specification for a cartographic design expert system for small scale maps is produced, with the rules required for each stage in the design process being set out. The development of an expert system, written in Prolog, incorporating these rules is then described in some detail. Details of how the Prolog language can be applied to a specific problem, colouring the political map, are also given. It has been found that as long as realistic goals are set and that the system is limited either in scale or range of topics, it is possible to develop an operational cartographic design expert system. However, it must be recognised that a considerable amount of further development will be needed to bring such a system to market with the support structures and robustness that this entails

The application of natural language pragmatics in human-computer interaction.

The general aim of the work reported in this thesis is to investigate the viability of applying theories and principles from the field of natural language pragmatics to that of human-computer interaction. In pursuing this aim, the research falls broadly into three phases.The first of these is the exploitation and adaptation of the Gricean Cooperative Principle, its maxims and inferential rules to situations of computer use which do not employ natural language as the medium of communication. The purpose of this endeavour is to provide a novel and revealing analysis of non natural language interaction and to establish principles for dialogue design, the application of which enhance the quality of communication between system and user in such situations.The second phase concerns the application of the adapted Gricean principles to the design of a dialogue management system, intended to address some of the problems which other research has revealed users to experience in using the standard UNIX shell interface. This second phase resulted in the production of the QDOS system, which is both a simulation of part of the UNIX file system and an implementation of the proposed dialogue management system.This software acts as the vehicle for all subsequent evaluative exercises constituting the third phase. This takes the form of an evaluation of the QDOS system and its theoretical underpinning, based on a two-condition experiment and a protocol analysis, involving a number of experimental subjects.This research provides an original application of the Gricean Cooperative Principle in human-computer interaction and a theoretical and practical demonstration of the validity of this endeavour. It also adduces an analysis of the UNIX interface and its vagaries in terms of a principled and consistent set of criteria as well as identifying a significant class of dialogue breakdown, the circumstances and incidence of which cut across issues of interface style