Module Identifier SE36010  
Module Title ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Mark B Ratcliffe  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Professor Christopher J Price  
Pre-Requisite CS26210  
Course delivery Lecture   22  
  Practical   3 two-hour practicals  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay  50%
Semester Assessment Development of practical application  50%
Supplementary Assessment Development of practical application  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  50%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Apply knowledge-based technologies to appropriate real world problems2

2. Identify and select appropriate technologies for specific problems in need of a knowledge-based solution

3. Determine, justify and use appropriate methodologies for the construction on knowledge-based systems.

Brief description

The module will consider a range of successful applications of knowledge based systems, identifying the kinds of applications where deployment of each type of knowledge based system is likely to prove effective. It will draw general lessons from the case studies, and consider suitable methodologies for the development of knowledge based systems.

Content

1. Effective diagnostic expert systems - 4 lectures.

These lectures will introduce how to build effective diagnostic systems for man made systems. It will therefore look at commercial applications of diagnostic trees, diagnostic test benches and issues associated with diagnostic systems.

2. Practical case based reasoning - 4 lectures.

Case-based reasoning is a method that uses records of past experience to enable companies to increase efficiency and reduce cost by automating processes such as scheduling, design paramaterization and diagnosis. These lectures will consider key applications in these areas.

3. Model based applications - 4 lectures

Key knowledge based applications involve the use of models as a basis for reasoning about the real world. These lectures will examine and explain key model-based applications, and identify the conditions necessary for successful dfeployment of the technology.

4. Real-time knowledge based systems - 3 lectures

By examining key successful real-time applications, we will identify the requirements, principles and success criteria for real-time knowledge-based systems.

5. Agent-based technologies - 4 lectures

An important aspect of the expansion of the Internet is the use of ?softbot? technologies to produce autonomous agents able to either wander the Internet gathering knowledge, or to filter that knowledge in line with the demands of the Internet user. These lectures will explore the composition and deployment of such agents.

6. Methodologies for knowledge-based systems - 3 lectures

The use of standard development methodologies for knowledge based systems can be inappropriate because of the difficulty of defining the end product. The appropriateness of agile methodologies for knowledge based systems will be considered, along with specific KBS methodologies such as RUDE and KADS.

Reading Lists

Books
C. J. Price (1999) Computer based diagnostic systems Springer-Verlag
I. Watson (1997) Applying case based reasoning: techniques for enterprise systems Morgan Kaufmann

Journals
Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence series of Proceedings AAAI Press

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6