Hierarchical representation of problem-solving knowledge in a frame-based process planning system

✍ Scribed by Dana S. Nau; Tien-Chien Chang

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 928 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0884-8173
• DOI: 10.1002/int.4550010105

✦ Synopsis

In most frame-based reasoning systems, the information being manipulated is represented using frames, but the problem-solving knowledge that manipulates the frames is represented as production rules. One problem with this approach is that rules are not always a natural way to represent knowledge; another is that systems containing lots of rules may suffer from problems with "exponential blowup'' in the amount of computation required. This paper describes a way to address these problems by ,organizing the problem-solving knowledge not as rules, but in a particular kind of frame hierarchy. The approach described in this paper has been implemented in a problem-solving system called SIPP (Semi-Intelligent Process Planner), which produces plans of action for the manufacture of metal parts. The paper gives an overview of SIPP, compares its knowledge representation and problem solving methods to approaches used in other knowledge-based systems, and describes goals for further research.