Towards intelligent manufacturing

This article describes the application of an Artificial Intelligence Planner in a robotized assembly cell that can be integrated to a Flexible Manufacturing System. The objective is to allow different products to be automatically assembled in a single production line with no pre-established assembly plans. The planner function is to generate action plans to the robot, in real time, from two input information: the initial state (disposition of parts of the product in line) and the final state (configuration of the assembled product). Copyright © 2007 IFAC.

The Brain as a Distributed Intelligent Processing System: An EEG Study

Background: Various neuroimaging studies, both structural and functional, have provided support for the proposal that a distributed brain network is likely to be the neural basis of intelligence. The theory of Distributed Intelligent Processing Systems (DIPS), first developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence, was proposed to adequately model distributed neural intelligent processing. In addition, the neural efficiency hypothesis suggests that individuals with higher intelligence display more focused cortical activation during cognitive performance, resulting in lower total brain activation when compared with individuals who have lower intelligence. This may be understood as a property of the DIPS. Methodology and Principal Findings: In our study, a new EEG brain mapping technique, based on the neural efficiency hypothesis and the notion of the brain as a Distributed Intelligence Processing System, was used to investigate the correlations between IQ evaluated with WAIS (Whechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), and the brain activity associated with visual and verbal processing, in order to test the validity of a distributed neural basis for intelligence. Conclusion: The present results support these claims and the neural efficiency hypothesis.

TINSEL – a web-based intelligent tutoring system on electrical installation design

This paper presents a project consisting on the development of an Intelligent Tutoring System, for training and support concerning the development of electrical installation projects to be used by electrical engineers, technicians and students. One of the major goals of this project is to devise a teaching model based on Intelligent Tutoring techniques, considering not only academic knowledge but also other types of more empirical knowledge, able to achieve successfully the training of electrical installation design.

Using an ambient intelligent architecture for developing an intelligent tutoring system for training operators of power system control centres

This paper describes an architecture conceived to integrate Power Sys-tems tools in a Power System Control Centre, based on an Ambient Intelligent (AmI) paradigm. This architecture is an instantiation of the generic architecture proposed in [1] for developing systems that interact with AmI environments. This architecture has been proposed as a consequence of a methodology for the inclu-sion of Artificial Intelligence in AmI environments (ISyRAmI - Intelligent Sys-tems Research for Ambient Intelligence). The architecture presented in the paper will be able to integrate two applications in the control room of a power system transmission network. The first is SPARSE expert system, used to get diagnosis of incidents and to support power restoration. The second application is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) incorporating two training tools. The first tutoring tool is used to train operators to get the diagnosis of incidents. The second one is another tutoring tool used to train operators to perform restoration procedures.

Intelligent power system

Artificial intelligence techniques are being widely used to face the new reality and to provide solutions that can make power systems undergo all the changes while assuring high quality power. In this way, the agents that act in the power industry are gaining access to a generation of more intelligent applications, making use of a wide set of AI techniques. Knowledge-based systems and decision-support systems have been applied in the power and energy industry. This article is intended to offer an updated overview of the application of artificial intelligence in power systems. This article paper is organized in a way so that readers can easily understand the problems and the adequacy of the proposed solutions. Because of space constraints, this approach can be neither complete nor sufficiently deep to satisfy all readers’ needs. As this is amultidisciplinary area, able to attract both software and computer engineering and power system people, this article tries to give an insight into themost important concepts involved in these applications. Complementary material can be found in the reference list, providing deeper and more specific approaches.

An intelligent tutoring system for operators’ training in power system control centres

The activity of Control Center operators is important to guarantee the effective performance of Power Systems. Operators’ actions are crucial to deal with incidents, especially severe faults, like blackouts. In this paper we present an Intelligent Tutoring approach for training Portuguese Control Centre operators in tasks like incident analysis and diagnosis, and service restoration of Power Systems. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) approach is used in the training of the operators, taking into account context awareness and the unobtrusive integration in the working environment.

Information and communication technologies in education – a web-based intelligent tutoring system on teaching and learning electrical project

Electrical activity is extremely broad and distinct, requiring by one hand, a deep knowledge on rules, regulations, materials, equipments, technical solutions and technologies and assistance in several areas, as electrical equipment, telecommunications, security and efficiency and rational use of energy, on the other hand, also requires other skills, depending on the specific projects to be implemented, being this knowledge a characteristic that belongs to the professionals with relevant experience, in terms of complexity and specific projects that were made.

A web-based intelligent tutoring system on teaching and learning electrical project

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provide new strategies for disseminating information and new communication models in order to change attitudes and human behaviour concerning to education. Nowadays the internet is crucial as a means of communication and information sharing. To education or tutorship will be required to use ICT, supported on the internet, to establish the communication of teacher-student and student-student, disseminating the content of the subjects, and as a way of teaching and learning process. This paper presents an intelligent tutor that aims to be a tool to support teaching and learning in the field of the electrical engineering project.

Intelligent recommendation system for e-learning platforms

As more and more digital resources are available, finding the appropriate document becomes harder. Thus, a new kind of tools, able to recommend the more appropriated resources according the user needs, becomes even more necessary. The current project implements an intelligent recommendation system for elearning platforms. The recommendations are based on one hand, the performance of the user during the training process and on the other hand, the requests made by the user in the form of search queries. All information necessary for decision-making process of recommendation will be represented in the user model. This model will be updated throughout the target user interaction with the platform.

An Intelligent Distributed System for Environmental Management

Environmental management is a complex task. The amount and heterogeneity of the data needed for an environmental decision making tool is overwhelming without adequate database systems and innovative methodologies. As far as data management, data interaction and data processing is concerned we here propose the use of a Geographical Information System (GIS) whilst for the decision making we suggest a Multi-Agent System (MAS) architecture. With the adoption of a GIS we hope to provide a complementary coexistence between heterogeneous data sets, a correct data structure, a good storage capacity and a friendly user’s interface. By choosing a distributed architecture such as a Multi-Agent System, where each agent is a semi-autonomous Expert System with the necessary skills to cooperate with the others in order to solve a given task, we hope to ensure a dynamic problem decomposition and to achieve a better performance compared with standard monolithical architectures. Finally, and in view of the partial, imprecise, and ever changing character of information available for decision making, Belief Revision capabilities are added to the system. Our aim is to present and discuss an intelligent environmental management system capable of suggesting the more appropriate land-use actions based on the existing spatial and non-spatial constraints.

An agent-based evolutionary approach for manufacturing system layout design

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Implementing theLean Manufacturing System

Tuottavuuden ja tehokkuuden parantaminen on keskeisimpiä menestystekijöitä glo-baaleilla markkinoilla. Yksi kehittämisen toimintamalli on lean manufacturing -ajattelutapa, joka perustuu imuohjaukseen. Sen lähtökohtana on asiakasarvo ja keskit-tyminen arvoa lisäävien toimintojen maksimointiin. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli parantaa Strömfors Electric Oy:n materiaalivirtauksia yhdellä tuotantolinjalla. Projektin oli tarkoitus olla pilotti lean-implementointiin koko tehtaalla. Projektissa otettiin käyttöön kanban-imuohjausjärjestelmä, jota varten teh-tiin analyysejä ja laskelmia arvovirtoihin, varastoihin ja ohjaukseen. Lean-ajattelutapaan ja -työkaluihin perustuvaa kirjallisuutta käytettiin pohjatietona pilotti-projektissa sekätulevien kehitysprojektien suunnittelussa. Pilottiprojektin tuloksena materiaalinohjaus tehostui ja keskeneräisen tuotannon va-rasto tasoittui käyttötarpeen mukaiseksi. Työntekijät ja työnjohtajat tutustuivat leanin perusteisiin osallistuessaan pilottiprojektiin. Pidemmän aikavälin suunnitelmissa ontoimitusvarmuuden ja laadun parantuminen ensin pilottiprojektia koskevalla linjalla ja myöhemmin koko tehtaalla imuohjauksen kokonaisvaltaisen käyttöönoton myötä.

Development of Paperboard Forming Tools with a Focus on Intelligent Manufacturing

Tämä diplomityö käsittelee kartonginmuovaukseen käytettävien puristintyökalujen kehittämistä. Työntavoitteina oli kehittää työkalutekniikan suunnittelua ja valmistusta edullisemmaksi, nopeammaksi ja työkaluja toiminnoiltaan tehokkaammiksi. Työn tuli sisältää myös ohjeet työkalujen suunnittelemiseksi ja valmistamiseksi jatkoa ajatellen. Työn aikana selvitettiin mahdollisia työkalurakennevaihtoehtoja, valmistusmateriaaleja sekä niiden käsittelymenetelmiä ja lastuamista sekä sen tarjoamia mahdollisuuksia valmistusmenetelmänä. Työkalupari suunniteltiin modulaariseksi siten, että uusia työkaluja varten vain osa komponenteista täytyy valmistaa uudelleen, samalla työkalun osien lukumäärää pienennettiin merkittävästi. Valmistusmateriaaliksi valittiin hyvin lastuttava työkaluteräs ja sen koneistaminen tapahtui vaakakaraisessa koneistuskeskuksessa. Työn loppuvaiheessa työkalukokonaisuudelle tehtiin kustannuslaskelma jaoteltuna eri työvaiheille sekä komponenteittain. Työkalu asennettiin puristimeen ja sille suoritettiin käyttötestaus. Työn aikana karttuneen kokemuksen sekä koekäytön perusteella tehtiin jatkokehitysehdotuksia.

Design, development and assessment of the Java Intelligent Tutoring System

The "Java Intelligent Tutoring System" (JITS) research project focused on designing, constructing, and determining the effectiveness of an Intelligent Tutoring System for beginner Java programming students at the postsecondary level. The participants in this research were students in the School of Applied Computing and Engineering Sciences at Sheridan College. This research involved consistently gathering input from students and instructors using JITS as it developed. The cyclic process involving designing, developing, testing, and refinement was used for the construction of JITS to ensure that it adequately meets the needs of students and instructors. The second objective in this dissertation determined the effectiveness of learning within this environment. The main findings indicate that JITS is a richly interactive ITS that engages students on Java programming problems. JITS is equipped with a sophisticated personalized feedback mechanism that models and supports each student in his/her learning style. The assessment component involved 2 main quantitative experiments to determine the effectiveness of JITS in terms of student performance. In both experiments it was determined that a statistically significant difference was achieved between the control group and the experimental group (i.e., JITS group). The main effect for Test (i.e., pre- and postiest), F( l , 35) == 119.43,p < .001, was qualified by a Test by Group interaction, F( l , 35) == 4.98,p < .05, and a Test by Time interaction, F( l , 35) == 43.82, p < .001. Similar findings were found for the second experiment; Test by Group interaction revealed F( 1 , 92) == 5.36, p < .025. In both experiments the JITS groups outperformed the corresponding control groups at posttest.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MANUFACTURING SYSTEM DESIGN IN THE DEFENSE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Manufacturing has evolved to become a critical element of the competitive skill set of defense aerospace firms. Given the changes in the acquisition environment and culture; traditional “thrown over the wall” means of developing and manufacturing products are insufficient. Also, manufacturing systems are complex systems that need to be carefully designed in a holistic manner and there are shortcomings with available tools and methods to assist in the design of these systems. This paper outlines the generation and validation of a framework to guide this manufacturing system design process.