Representation of real knowledge for real-time use

✍ Scribed by W.H. Simmonds

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 209 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0952-1976
• DOI: 10.1016/0952-1976(88)90012-7

✦ Synopsis

Sponsored by the IFAC Technical Committee on Computers, and with the co-sponsorship of the Committees on Manufacturing Technology and Applications, the International Federation for Automatic Control's first-ever Workshop on the Application of Artificial Intelligence to Real-Time Control was held in Swansea, UK, during September of this year.

For some years, IFAC had been aware of the need to examine the important issues being raised in the introduction of AI techniques into the real-time control world, and that awareness has led to the holding of this pioneering event. With some fear and trepidation, the oganisers sent out a world-wide call for papers, and were astounded by the response which left the International Programme Committee the enviable task of sorting out approximately ten papers from over 150 which had been submitted. In addition, the Organising Committee had already committed itself to a series of invited papers. Faced with this number of submissions, and despite IFAC's intention of keeping its Workshops down to a maximum of 60 attendees, the workshop organisers had to relent and allow over 100 chosen delegates to attend. Indeed, a few days before the event, the waiting list exceeded the list of delegates. There could be no question that IFAC had hit the right nail on the right head at the right moment -certainly a very intelligent decision!

The Organising Committee was specific in its intention to present only appropriate papers which attacked those issues which directly affect the real-time control world. It must be pointed out also that the Sponsoring Technical Committee, i.e., the IFAC Computers Committee, is one which tends to be theoretical in nature, and therefore the brief for the Workshop was to focus firmly on the more-fundamental aspects of the technology.

While space here does not permit us to review in detail all the papers presented, it has been felt appropriate to provide an over-view of those which have particularly deep significance for the real-time control world.