A center for commercial development of space: Real-time satellite mapping. Remote sensing-based agricultural information expert system

The research project results in a powerful yet user friendly CROPCAST expert system for use by a client to determine the crop yield production of a certain crop field. The study is based on the facts that heuristic assessment and decision making in agriculture are significant and dominate much of agribusiness. Transfer of the expert knowledge concerning remote sensing based crop yield production into a specific expert system is the key program in this study. A knowledge base consisting of a root frame, CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, and four subframes, namely, SATELLITE, PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL were developed to accommodate the production rules obtained from the domain expert. The expert system shell Personal Consultant Plus version 4.0. was used for this purpose. An external geographic program was integrated to the system. This project is the first part of a completely built expert system. The study reveals that much effort was given to the development of the rules. Such effort is inevitable if workable, efficient, and accurate rules are desired. Furthermore, abundant help statements and graphics were included. Internal and external display routines add to the visual capability of the system. The work results in a useful tool for the client for making decisions on crop yield production

Development of model-based systems for integrated design of highway bridges

This paper presents a model-based approach to facilitate the implementation of integrated software systems that can support bridge design processes throughout the project lifecycle. The approach involves the use of an integrated data model and a centralized project data repository, where project data can be efficiently managed and shared across various project processes. An integrated bridge data model, based on the ISO STEP standards, has been developed. Four main views (or sub-schemas) have been identified to support the core model: structural design, structural analysis, construction scheduling, and cost estimating. An object-oriented project repository is implemented based on the proposed data model. The prototype software aims to support the design of concrete box girder bridges.Ce m\ue9moire pr\ue9sente une approche ax\ue9e sur des mod\ue8les visant \ue0 faciliter la mise en ?uvre de syst\ue8mes logiciels int\ue9gr\ue9s capables de soutenir des processus de conception de ponts pendant toute la dur\ue9e du projet. Il s'agit de mettre en valeur un mod\ue8le de donn\ue9es int\ue9gr\ue9 et un d\ue9p\uf4t centralis\ue9 de donn\ue9es de projet o\uf9 l'on peut g\ue9rer les donn\ue9es de projet avec efficacit\ue9 et les communiquer par le biais de divers processus de projet. On a \ue9labor\ue9 un mod\ue8le de donn\ue9es int\ue9gr\ue9 relatif \ue0 des ponts. Ce mod\ue8le est fond\ue9 sur les normes ISO STEP. \uc0 l'appui du mod\ue8le de base, on a pr\ue9cis\ue9 quatre perspectives (ou sous-sch\ue9mas) : la conception structurelle, l'analyse structurelle, l'ordonnancement des travaux de construction et l'estimation des co\ufbts. On a r\ue9alis\ue9 un d\ue9p\uf4t de projets ax\ue9 sur les objets et fond\ue9 sur le mod\ue8le de donn\ue9es propos\ue9. Le logiciel prototype est con\ue7u pour appuyer la conception de ponts \ue0 poutres et \ue0 dalots en b\ue9ton.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye