Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Culbert, C..
The development of NDE techniques has always been driven by the ongoing need for low-cost, rapid, user-friendly, reliable and efficient methods of detecting and characterizing flaws as well as determining material properties.
Signature recognition is the problem of identifying an event or events from its time series. The generic problem has numerous applications to science and engineering. At NASA's Johnson Space Center, for example, mission control personnel, using electronic displays and strip chart recorders, monitor telemetry data from three-phase electrical buses on the Space Shuttle and maintain records of device activation and deactivation. Since few electrical devices have sensors to indicate their actual status, changes of state are inferred from characteristic current and voltage fluctuations. Controllers recognize these events both by examining the waveform signatures and by listening to audio channels between ground and crew. Recently the authors have developed a prototype system that identifies major electrical events from the telemetry and displays them on a workstation. Eventually the system will be able to identify accurately the signatures of over fifty distinct events in real time, while contending with noise, intermittent loss of signal, overlapping events, and other complications. This system is just one of many possible signature recognition applications in Mission Control. While much of the technology underlying these applications is the same, each application has unique data characteristics, and every control position has its own interface and performance requirements. There is a need, therefore, for CASE tools that can reduce the time to implement a running signature recognition application from months to weeks or days. This paper describes our work to date and our future plans.
Tool for developing expert systems, CLIPS makes decisions in same way human expert would. Latest update incorporates feature called COOL, CLIPS Object-Oriented Language.
Ideal for developing expert systems, CLIPS language easy to use and called from or make calls to other programs. Advanced features include cross-reference, style, and verification facility catching logic errors in large systems. Program machine independent.
CLIPS version 4.2 represents major revision of CLIPS code to organize better kernel and to lay groundwork for additional features in future. Includes rule compiler for run-time modules, integrated MicroEMACS editor and online help facility. Cross-reference tool expanded to provide style checking and automatic verification. DEC VAX version line oriented. PC and Macintosh versions each contain windowing variant of CLIPS as well as standard line-oriented version. Written in C.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is discussed. A number of the computer technologies pioneered in the AI world can make significant contributions to increasing STS operations productivity. Application of expert systems, natural language, speech recognition, and other key technologies can reduce manpower while raising productivity. Many aspects of STS support lend themselves to this type of automation. The artificial intelligence section of the mission planning and analysis division has developed a number of functioning prototype systems which demonstrate the potential gains of applying AI technology.