COM362 Knowledge Engineering

1
Modern Case Studies

• John MacIntyre
• 0191 515 3778
• john.macintyre_at_sunderland.ac.uk

2
Application Areas

• Engineering Diagnostics
• Environmental Monitoring
• Building Design
• Nutrition Advice
• Baking
• Police Investigation
• Remember the feasibility key points!

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The TIGER System

• Developed Intelligent Applications Ltd, Scotland
• Monitors gas turbines in real-time, and diagnoses
  faults
• Linked to on-line data acquisition systems with
  hundreds of possible variables
• Sophisticated front-end graphics for data
  visualisation

4
The TIGER Problem

• Information overload for plant engineers
• High capital costs of catastrophic failures
• High costs for non-availability of turbines
• Desire to run turbines to optimum efficiency
• Lack of skilled engineers in turbine diagnostics

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Benefits of TIGER

• Continuous, 24-hour a day analysis of data
• Automatic or semi-automatic diagnosis
• Storage of complete picture of events leading up
  to turbine trips or faults
• Reduced downtime, increased availability
• Hundreds of thousands of pounds saved by National
  Power and PowerGen

6
The SEPCA System

• Developed by the National Ecological Institute of
  Mexico, and the US Air Force
• Monitoring of air quality in Mexico City
• Data from 25 monitoring stations located around
  Metropolitan Zone of Mexico City (MZMC)
• Measure general air conditions and specific
  pollutants (ozone, carbon monoxide, etc etc.lots
  of information)

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SEPCA Approach

• Uses meteorological data to forecast air quality
  information
• Performs
• quantitative analysis -levels of pollutant
• qualitative analysis - graphical interface
  showing forecast air quality against allowable
  bands and alarms
• Being expanded to include photo-chemistry data

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Benefits of SEPCA

• Improvements in information available to
  meteorologists
• Improved ability to warn public of bad air
  quality events
• Improved ability to identify particular problem
  areas
• Ability to see patterns and trends in pollution

9
Computer Aided Design

• Two systems developed by universities in Hong
  Kong
• Floor Plan Design Expert (FPDX)
• Interior Design Expert (IDX)
• Linked with CAD systems

10
FPDX

• FPDX used by architects to evaluate whether an
  apartment building floor plan adheres to
  government requirements and standards
• Very high overhead on regulations
• Regulations often required subjective
  interpretation
• Need faster, more consistent decisions
• Automated from drawings

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IDX

• IDX analyses design based on a set of design
  principles
• Gives suggestions for improvements
• Helps designer with
• spatial relationships of objects
• basic design guidelines
• regulations and standards
• health and safety issues

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Benefits

• Quick decisions
• Efficient design
• Regulation compliance
• Health and safety benefits
• Consistency!

13
NUTRICON

• Developed at East Texas State University
• Nutrition consultant expert system
• Used by nutrition consultants, dieticians, health
  care professionals
• Graphical interface for user input, linked to
  database of stored domain knowledge

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NUTRICON Approach

• Has a knowledge base of nutrients present in
  thousands of food items
• Has rules on Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs)
  for different age groups, different sexes,
  different lifestyle requirements
• Highlights problems, deficiencies, and recommends
  remedial actions

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Benefits

• Simplifies a very complex alternatives dependent
  upon age, sex, lifestyle
• Remedial actions tailored to the individual
• suggested menus etc
• Can easily be used by non-experts in nutrition to
  give advice to patients
• Consistent and traceable

16
Advising the Baker

• Developed at the Flour Milling and Baking
  Research Association, England
• Designed to help bakers to
• optimise product quality
• improve operational use of retarding equipment
  (basically to control the yeast activity in the
  dough)
• Allows either manual or automatic operation of
  equipment

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Retarding Advisor

• Rule base of complex relationships between
  ingredients, formulations, dough process and
  retarding process
• Includes a What If? capability - lets the user
  see the outcome of scenarios (both ingredients
  and plant settings)
• Advises on plant settings and ingredients
• Plant settings can be automatically downloaded to
  the machines

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Benefits

• Helps the baker to make better bread!!
• Better product quality, more consistent, less
  waste
• Efficient use of plant - more throughput
• Improved knowledge of the baking process itself
• Spin-off benefit - training and education of
  machine operators

19
Investigators Notebook

• Developed by the Ottowa Police Service, Canada
• Supports investigations of residential break and
  entry incidents
• Motivation is the vast amount of information
  gathered by the police during investigations
• Used as a pilot study to show how ES could be
  used throughout police service

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Investigators Notebook

• Large set of historical data available
• Used in conjunction with new incidents to carry
  out knowledge acquisition and modelling of break
  and enter events, suspect profiles etc
• KA process led to modification and
  standardisation of documentation of incidents
• Allows links to other cases

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Benefits

• Makes information easily accessible
• previously held only in reports
• Standardises best practice approach to
  investigation
• Allows trending and linking with other cases in
  vicinity/similar case parameters
• Links with previous offenders
• Generates list of suspects
• Graphic display capability

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Conclusions

• Very varied!!
• Potential for applications in most domains
• However successful applications have been
  scoped well
• definition of the area of the knowledge domain to
  be tackled
• Feasibility rules apply in all cases