Fuzzy-Based Intelligent Sensors: Modeling, Design, Application

This paper presents a modeling of intelligent sensors based on a representation of the sensor by services it uses or it proposes, and by its USer Operating Modes (USOMs). This modeling is used for the definition of the reactive layer of distributed agent based intelligent sensors. Our area of interest is the agent-level layer in which the concept of IIC (Intelligent Instrument Cluster) is defined. An application that uses fuzzy-based intelligent sensors is presented in order to illustrate the concepts

Service integration in distributed control systems: an approach based on fusion of mereologies

International audienceThe objective of the present paper is to provide a methodology where the functional characteristics of a distributed engineering system can be obtained by merging domaindependent knowledge at run-time. We focus on distributed control systems where computing nodes are related to the physical environment in which they operate via sensors/actuators. The knowledge representation is formally expressed with a mereological approach where a structural mereology describes the physical environment and a functional mereology identifies available engineering goals for each computing node. During the design step, a mechanism based on Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) allows to generate the resulting goal mereology. The concept of goal is refined with sub-concepts in the multilevel structure. Because computing nodes depend on each other for goals to be achieved, an agent-based method is proposed to establish dynamically the dependencies among distributed nodes. This method is centered on a fusion mechanism involving the functional mereologies of appropriate nodes. We use an example from an open-channel hydraulic system controlling the water level to motivate and illustrate the model. Although it is limited to the engineering systems, this approach can be reused in related domains where the goal representation can be expressed as a triple including an action, a role and a physical entity

A type-theoretical approach for ontologies: The case of roles

International audienceIn the domain of ontology design as well as in Knowledge Representation, modeling universals is a challenging problem. Most approaches that have addressed this problem rely on Description Logics (DLs) but many difficulties remain, due to under-constrained representation which reduces the inferences that can be drawn and further causes problems in expressiveness. In mathematical logic and program checking, type theories have proved to be appealing but, so far they have not been applied in the formalization of ontologies. To bridge this gap, we present in this paper a theory for representing ontologies in a dependently-typed framework which relies on strong formal foundations including both a constructive logic and a functional type system. The language of this theory defines in a precise way what ontological primitives such as classes, relations, properties, etc., and thereof roles, are. The first part of the paper details how these primitives are defined and used within the theory. In a second part, we focus on the formalization of the role primitive. A review of significant role properties leads to the specification of a role profile and most of the remaining work details through numerous examples, how the proposed theory is able to fully satisfy this profile. It is demonstrated that dependent types can model several non-trivial aspects of roles including a formal solution for generalization hierarchies, identity criteria for roles and other contributions. A discussion is given on how the theory is able to cope with many of the constraints inherent in a good role representation

A Coq-based Implementation of Tarski's Mereogeometry

International audienceDuring the last decade, the domain of Qualitative Spatial Reasoning, has known a renewal of interest for mereogeometry, a theory that has been initiated by Tarski. Mereogeometry relies on mereology, the Lesniewski's theory of parts and wholes that is further extended with geometrical primitives and appropriate definitions. However, most approaches (i) depart from the original Lesniewski's mereology which does not assume usual sets as a basis, (ii) restrict the logical power of mereology to a mere theory of part-whole relations and (iii) require the introduction of a connection relation. Moreover, the seminal paper of Tarki shows up unclear foundations and we argue that mereogeometry as it is introduced by Tarski, can be more suited to extend the whole theory of Lesniewski. For that purpose, we investigate a type-theoretical representation of space more closely related with the original ideas of Lesniewski and expressed with the Coq language. We show that (i) it can be given a more clear foundation, (ii) it can be based on three axioms instead of four and (iii) it can serve as a basis for spatial reasoning with full compliance with Lesniewski's systems

Vers un modèle formel pour le raisonnement à partir des contextes

27National audienceCes dix dernières années de nombreuses recherches dans le domaine des contextes furent menées, cependant, peu d'entre elles utilisèrent la logique comme sémantique. Dans cet article, nous abordons ce problème en utilisant une théorie constructive des types comme support pour la modélisation des contextes. Nous décrivons un outil théorique formé à partir de la théorie intuitionniste des types. Cette théorie est étendue par les enregistrements à types dépendants - DTR - qui permettent la représentation de connaissances partielles et le raisonnement sur des données évolutives

Towards a Context Theory for Context-aware systems, Advances in Ambient Intelligence

The basic goal of context-aware systems is to make software aware of the environment and to adapt to their changing context. For that purpose, the core problem is to have a powerful context model. While significative formalizations have been proposed, context models are either expressed through logical formalisms or with ontology-based approaches. The major problem with all that approaches is that they suffer from the chronic insufficiency of first-order logic to cope with dynamic change and especially, to solve the frame problem. Therefore, building context-aware software is a complex task due to a lack of appropriate formal models in dynamic environments. In this paper, we propose a model which combines the strengths of both approaches while trying not to carry their specific weaknesses into the resulting formal framework. For this purpose, the formal model relies both on a knowledge representation with ontologies and on a logical reasoning with Dependent Record Types (DRT) based on Intuitionistic Type Theory and the Curry-Howard isomorphism. This logic modelling aims to be applied to any kind of process-based applications

Formal Foundations for Situation Awareness based on Dependent Type Theory

24 pagesInternational audienceCognitive situation awareness has recently caught the attention of the information fusion community. Some approaches have developed formalizations that are both ontology-based and underpinned with Situation Theory. While the semantics of Situation Theory is very attractive from the cognitive point of view, the languages that are used to express knowledge and to reason with suffer from a number of limitations concerning both expressiveness and reasoning capabilities. In this paper we propose a more general formal foundation denoted S-DTT (Situation-based Dependent Type Theory) that is expressed with the language of the Extended Calculus of Constructions (ECC), a widely used theory in mathematical formalization and in software validation. Situation awareness relies on small blocks of knowledge called situation fragment types whose composition leads to a very expressive and unifying theory. The semantic part is provided by an ontology that is rooted in the S-DTT theory and, on which higher-order reasoning can be performed. The basis of the theory is summarized and its expressing power is illustrated with numerous examples. A scenario in the healthcare context for patient safety issues is detailed and a comparison with well-known approaches is discussed

Towards Ontological Correctness of Part-whole Relations with Dependent Types

International audienceGenerally, part-whole relations are modeled using fragments of first-order logic(FOL) and difficulties arise when meta-reasoning is done over their properties, leading to reason outside the logic. Alternatively, classical languages for ontological reasoning such as Description Logics + Logic Programming lack of expressive formal foundations resulting in ambiguous interpretations of relations. Moreover, they show some difficulties to prove that a given meta property is logically correct. In order to address these problems, we suggest a formal framework using a dependent (higher-order) type theory such as those used in program checking and theorem provers (e.g., Coq). All properties of part-whole relations are formalized through abstract constructs called parameterized specifications (p-specifications). We detail their content and explain how they are suitable to build an ontology of formal properties that can be further used for reasoning about higher-order properties

Towards an Ontological Modeling with Dependent Types: Application to Part-Whole Relations

International audienceGenerally, mereological relations are modeled using fragments of first-order logic(FOL) and difficulties arise when meta-reasoning is done over their properties, leading to reason outside the logic. Alternatively, classical languages for conceptual modeling such as UML lack of formal foundations resulting in ambiguous interpretations of mereological relations. Moreover, they cannot prove that a given specification is correct from a logical perspective. In order to address all these problems, we suggest a formal framework using a dependent (higher-order) type theory such as those used in program checking and theorem provers (e.g., Coq). It is based on constructive logic and allows reasoning in different abstraction levels within the logic. Furthermore, it maximizes the expressiveness while preserving decidability of type checking and results in a coherent theory with a powerful sub-typing mechanism