Module Identifier SE36010  
Module Title ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Professor Qiang Shen  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Dr Amanda J Clare, Dr Adrian D Shaw, Professor Mark H Lee, Professor Qiang Shen  
Pre-Requisite CS21120  
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%
Further details http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/SE36010  

Learning outcomes

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

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. Rule-based systems - 2 lectures.

These lectures will introduce what factors to consider in building practical knowledge-based diagnostic systems that automate human expertise. It will look at commercial applications of diagnostic trees, diagnostic test benches and issues generally associated with rule-based systems.

2. Case-based systems - 2 lectures.

Case-based systems exploit 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 the generic approach to building such systems and their applications in a wide range of areas, supported with demonstrations.

3. Model-based systems - 2 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 how model-based reasoning works via hypothesis-making and consequence exploitation,and identify the conditions necessary for successful deployment of this technology.

4. Real-time knowledge-based systems - 2 lectures

These lectures will identify the requirements, principles and success criteria for real-time knowledge-based systems that perform in continuous domains. Application systems for plant monitoring and control will be examined to demonstrate the underlying approaches.

5. Methodologies for knowledge-based systems - 2 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 common KADS.

6. 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, deployment and influence in society of such agents.

7. The Semantic Web - 4 lectures

The Semantic Web is the framework in which knowledge stored in the World Wide Web is given meaning. As potentially the largest knowledge base in the world, we look at the tools and technologies used to engineer accessible knowledge in the Web. These lectures cover existing information retrieval methods, Semantic Web infrastucture (XML, RDF, URIs and related Web standards), and commons and commonsense knowledge repositories.

8. Web Services and the Grid - 2 lectures

Software agents interact with the knowledge and information of the Web through Semantic Web structure and through Web Services interfaces. Web Services allow well defined interfaces for agents to access information. The Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF) allows those services to be stateful, and the Grid technology will build on WSRF to allow authorisation, authentication, job management and various other ideas necessary for future web agent based systems. These lectures take a look at these emerging ideas and standards.

Module Skills

Problem_solving In construction of practical application  
Research skills Students will be required to acquire further knowledge from journals and on-line sources for essay  
Communication No  
Improving own Learning and Performance The assessed coursework requires students to develop their understanding of issues associated with the module.  
Team work Team work is required during the tutorial and assignment  
Information Technology The module is IT focused. Students will use computer tools to develop and run their applications  
Application of Number No  
Personal Development and Career planning The module gives students a wider view of the computing industry and potential careers  
Subject Specific Skills Methodological skills, design skills, programming skills  

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Russell, Stuart J. (2003.) Artificial intelligence :a modern approach /Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig ; contributing writers, John F. Canny ... [et al.]. 0130803022
World Wide Web Consortium, The (2005) The W3C's home page http://www.w3.org
Price, C. J. (1999.) Computer-based diagnostic systems /Chris Price. 3540761985
** Recommended Background
Berners-Lee, Tim. (1999 (reprinted) Weaving the Web :the past, present and future of the World Wide Web by its inventor /Tim Berners-Lee with Mark Fischetti. 0752820907 :
Watson, Ian D (c1997.) Applying case-based reasoning :techniques for enterprise systems /Ian Watson. 1558604626
Daconta, Michael C. (c2003.) The Semantic Web a guide to the future of XML, Web services, and knowledge management /Michael C. Daconta, Leo J. Obrst, Kevin T. Smith. http://www.netLibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=87337 0471481130 (electronic bk.)
Fensel, Dieter (2003.) Spinning the semantic Web : bringing the World Wide Web to its full potential /edited by Dieter Fensel ... [et al.]. 0262062321

Journals
Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence series of Proceedings AAAI Press

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6