Digital Commons Network^™

The Icdm Development Toolkit: Technical Description, Russell Leighton, Lakshmi Vempati, Alan Davis, Mark Porczak, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report provides a technical description of the Integrated Cooperative Decision-Making (ICDM) software toolkit for the development of intelligent decision-support applications. An overview of the transformational forces that have precipitated the need for a development toolkit capable of supporting a distributed, information-centric software environment, and the objectives of ICDM are contained in a companion CDM Technical Report (CDM-16-04) entitled: “The ICDM Development Toolkit: Purpose and Overview”.

ICDM is an application development framework and toolkit for distributed decision-support systems incorporating software agents that collaborate with each other and human users to monitor changes (i.e., events) in the state of problem situations, …

Parsing Concurrent Xml, Ionut E. Iacob, Alex Dekhtyar, Kazuyo Kaneko

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Concurrent markup hierarchies appear often in document-centric XML documents, as a result of different XML elements having overlapping scopes. They require significantly different approach to management and maintenance. Management of XML documents composed of concurrent markup has been mostly studied by the document processing community and has attracted attention of computer scientists only recently. In this paper we discuss the architecture of an XML parser for concurrent XML. This parser uses a GODDAG data structure in place of traditional DOM Tree to store concurrent markup on top of the document content and provides a DOM-like API that allows software developers …

A Tail-Recursive Machine With Stack Inspection, John Clements, Mathias Felleisen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Security folklore holds that a security mechanism based on stack inspection is incompatible with a global tail call optimization policy; that an implementation of such a language must allocate memory for a source-code tail call, and a program that uses only tail calls (and no other memory allocating construct) may nevertheless exhaust the available memory. In this article, we prove this widely held belief wrong.We exhibit an abstract machine for a language with security stack inspection whose space consumption function is equivalent to that of the canonical tail call optimizing abstract machine. Our machine is surprisingly simple and suggests that …

Interoperability And The Need For Intelligent Software, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

In my introduction to this year’s conference I will address six questions that I believe come to the core of our conference theme of interoperability. Do we human beings resist change? Is it in fact a human problem and not a technical problem that we are dealing with? Can non-human intelligence exist? Do we even have a need for intelligent software? How did software, particularly intelligent software (i.e., if we accept that there is such a thing) evolve over the past several decades, and what is all this talk about a Semantic Web environment? And, finally, what does the …

Proceedings Of The 2004 Onr Decision-Support Workshop Series: Interoperability, Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

In August of 1998 the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), approached Dr. Phillip Abraham of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the proposal for an annual workshop focusing on emerging concepts in decision-support systems for military applications. The proposal was considered timely by the ONR Logistics Program Office for at least two reasons. First, rapid advances in information systems technology over the past decade had produced distributed collaborative computer-assistance capabilities with profound potential for providing meaningful support to military decision makers. Indeed, some systems based on …

Interoperability And The Need For Intelligent Software: A Historical Perspective, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

With the objective of defining the interoperability theme of this year’s conference it is the purpose of this paper¹ to trace the evolution of intelligent software from data-centric applications that essentially encapsulate their data environment to ontology-based applications with automated reasoning capabilities. The author draws a distinction between human intelligence and component capabilities within a more general definition of intelligence; - a kind of intelligence that can be embedded in computer software. The primary vehicle in the quest for intelligent software has been the gradual recognition of the central role played by data and information, rather than the logic …

Utilizing Learning Styles For Interactive Tutorials, Magnus Aase, Franz J. Kurfess

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Developing successful Web-based learning environments has shown to be a challenging and difficult endeavor [7][11] that requires knowledge from multiple domains like pedagogy, psychology, knowledge engineering, software engineering, and Web technologies. Their lack of individual preferred ways of instruction is a challenge we address in this paper. We introduce a Web-based learning environment that teaches concepts from Artificial Intelligence to college students. This environment is intended to be used as a complementary tool for the standard lectures. By adapting the instruction and learning material to the individual student’s learning style the tutorial gives the student a personal learning experience and …

Databases For Interval Probabilities, Wenzhong Zhao, Alex Dekhtyar, Judy Goldsmith

Computer Science and Software Engineering

We present a database framework for the efficient storage and manipulation of interval probability distributions and their associated information. Although work on interval probabilities and on probabilistic databases has appeared before, ours is the first to combine these into a coherent and mathematically sound framework including both standard relational queries and queries based on probability theory. In particular, our query algebra allows users not only to query existing interval probability distributions, but also to construct new ones by means of conditionalization and marginalization, as well as other more common database operations.

Helping Analysts Trace Requirements: An Objective Look, Jane Huffman Hayes, Alex Dekhtyar, Senthil Karthikeyan Sundaram, Sarah Howard

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper addresses the issues related to improving the overall quality of the requirements tracing process for Independent Verification and Validation analysts. The contribution of the paper is three-fold: we define requirements for a tracing tool based on analyst responsibilities in the tracing process; we introduce several new measures for validating that the requirements have been satisfied; and we present a prototype tool that we built, RETRO (REquirements TRacing On-target), to address these requirements. We also present the results of a study used to assess RETRO’s support of requirements and requirement elements that can be measured objectively.

Possible Worlds Semantics For Probabilistic Logic Programs, Alex Dekhtyar, Michael I. Dekhtyar

Computer Science and Software Engineering

In this paper we consider a logic programming framework for rea-soning about imprecise probabilities. In particular, we propose a new semantics, for the Probabilistic Logic Programs (p-programs) of Ng and Subrahmanian. P-programs represent imprecision using probability intervals. Our semantics, based on the possible worlds semantics, considers all point probability distributions that satisfy a given p-program. In the paper, we provide the exact characterization of such models of a p-program. We show that the set of models of a p-program can-not, in general case, be described by single intervals associated with atoms of the program. We provide algorithms for efficient construction …

The Tirac™ Development Toolkit: Purpose And Overview, Jens G. Pohl, Kym Jason Pohl, Russell Leighton, Michael Zang, Steven Gollery, Mark Porczak

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report provides an overview description of the Toolkit for Information Representation and Agent Collaboration (TIRAC™) software framework for the development of intelligent decision-support applications. More technical descriptions of TIRAC™ are contained in a companion CDM Technical Report (CDM-19-03) entitled: ‘The TIRAC™ Development Toolkit: Technical Description’.

TIRAC™ is an application development framework and toolkit for decision-support systems incorporating software agents that collaborate with each other and human users to monitor changes (i.e., events) in the state of problem situations, generate and evaluate alternative plans, and alert human users to immediate and developing resource shortages, failures, threats, and similar adverse conditions. …

Pre-Conference Proceedings Of The Focus Symposium On Intelligent Software Systems For The New Infostructure: Baden-Baden, Germany, Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Over the past several years the papers in this annual series of symposia have increasingly centered on the realization of a human-computer collaboration environment in which computer-based software agents with reasoning capabilities provide meaningful support to human decision makers. It is therefore quite appropriate that the first paper in the 2004 Proceedings should address the historical evolutionary path of ‘intelligent’ software leading to the goal of a semantic Web environment. The realization of this goal is now in sight, driven by public security threats that are increasingly relying on technology for effective countermeasures.

The Evolution Of Intelligent Computer Software And The Semantic Web, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of intelligent software from data-centric applications that essentially encapsulate their data environment to ontology-based applications with automated reasoning capabilities. The author draws a distinction between human intelligence and component capabilities within a more general definition of intelligence, which may be embedded in computer software. The primary vehicle in the quest for intelligent software has been the gradual recognition of the central role played by data and information, rather than the logic and functionality of the application. The three milestones in this evolution have been: the separation of data management from …

Knowledge Management Using Semantic Web Languages And Technologies, Steven J. Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Each organization of more than a few persons generates a number of documents containing information about the activities of the organization. The sum of these documents provides a kind of organizational memory that can be used both in evaluations of past performance and as the basis of future planning based on previous experience.

Unfortunately, the nature of these documents mitigates against the reuse of information for purposes other than those for which each document was originally intended. To locate all the information about some aspect of the organization, it frequently becomes necessary for human beings to search a mass of …

Content-Based Framework For Component Libraries, Franz J. Kurfess, Ching Kang Cheng, Z. Y. Wang, L. Jololian

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The construction of large software systems from existing components requires efficient access to possibly large collections of such components. In this paper, we present a content-based framework to organize this large collection of components in a semi-automatic fashion, according to an extensible user-defined ontology. Neural associative memories are used for fast, similarity-based access. Relevant characteristics of components are extracted and stored as a ``signature'' in such an associative memory, and during retrieval the closest matches to the query are indicated in very short time. In addition to content-based characteristics such as keywords, function and variable names, comments, and the location …

A Novel Distributed Denial-Of-Service Detection Algorithm, Brett Tsudama

Master's Theses

The applicability of implementing Ratio-based SYN Flood Detection (RSD) on a network processor is explored, and initial results are presented.

Dynamic Robot Networks: A Coordination Platform For Multi-Robot Systems, Christopher M. Clark

Computer Science and Software Engineering

A large number of tasks, from manufacturing to planetary exploration, have been successfully accomplished using single robot systems. Many of these tasks could be completed faster, more reliably, and on a larger scale using a cooperating team of autonomous mobile robots. However, robots must be able to coordinate their actions before cooperation is possible. This work aims to enable robots with the ability to coordinate their actions for safe navigation in dynamic, unknown environments. Specifically, the work focuses on: 1) the coordination of multiple robots when sensing and inter-robot communication are limited and 2) multi-robot motion planning in dynamic, unknown …

Text Is Software Too, Alexander Dekhtyar, Jane Huffman Hayes, Tim Menzies

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Software compiles and therefore is characterized by a parseable grammar. Natural language text rarely conforms to prescriptive grammars and therefore is much harder to parse. Mining parseable structures is easier than mining less structured entities. Therefore, most work on mining repositories focuses on software, not natural language text. Here, we report experiments with mining natural language text (requirements documents) suggesting that: (a) mining natural language is not too diffcult, so (b) software repositories should routinely be augmented with all the natural language text used to develop that software.

Introduction To The Special Issue On Human–Robot Interaction, Robin R. Murphy, Erika Rogers

Computer Science and Software Engineering

No abstract provided.

Final Report For The Darpa/Nsf Interdisciplinary Study On Human–Robot Interaction, Jennifer L. Burke, Robin Roberson Murphy, Erika Rogers, Vladimir J. Lumelsky, Jean Scholtz

Computer Science and Software Engineering

As part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/National Science Foundation study on human–robot interaction (HRI), over sixty representatives from academia, government, and industry participated in an interdisciplinary workshop, which allowed roboticists to interact with psychologists, sociologists, cognitive scientists, communication experts and human–computer interaction specialists to discuss common interests in the field of HRI, and to establish a dialogue across the disciplines for future collaborations. We include initial work that was done in preparation for the workshop, links to keynote and other presentations, and a summary of the findings, outcomes, and recommendations that were generated by the participants. Findings of …

The Icdm Development Toolkit: Purpose And Overview, Jens G. Pohl, Kym Jason Pohl, Russell Leighton, Michael Zang, Steven Gollery, Mark Porczak

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report provides an overview description of the Integrated Cooperative Decision-Making (ICDM) software toolkit for the development of intelligent decision-support applications. More technical descriptions of ICDM are contained in a companion CDM Technical Report (CDM-18-04) entitled: ‘The ICDM Development Toolkit: Technical Description’.

ICDM is an application development framework and toolkit for decision-support systems incorporating software agents that collaborate with each other and human users to monitor changes (i.e., events) in the state of problem situations, generate and evaluate alternative plans, and alert human users to immediate and developing resource shortages, failures, threats, and similar adverse conditions. A core component of …

Removing Excess Topology From Isosurfaces, Zoë J. Wood, Hugues Hoppe, Mathieu Desbrun, Peter Shröder

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Many high-resolution surfaces are created through isosurface extraction from volumetric representations, obtained by 3D photography, CT, or MRI. Noise inherent in the acquisition process can lead to geometrical and topological errors. Reducing geometrical errors during reconstruction is well studied. However, isosurfaces often contain many topological errors in the form of tiny handles. These nearly invisible artifacts hinder subsequent operations like mesh simplification, remeshing, and parametrization. In this article we present a practical method for removing handles in an isosurface. Our algorithm makes an axis-aligned sweep through the volume to locate handles, compute their sizes, and selectively remove them. The algorithm …

Motion Planning For Formations Of Mobile Robots, T. D. Barfoot, Christopher M. Clark

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper is concerned with planning the motion of mobile robots in formation, which means certain geometrical constraints are imposed on the relative positions and orientations of the robots throughout their travel. Specifically, a method of planning motion for formations of mobile robots with non-holonomic constraints is presented. The kinematic equations developed allow a certain class of formations to be maintained while the group as a whole exhibits motion. The work was validated using the Stanford Micro-Autonomous RoverS Testbed.

Handling Catastrophic Failures In Scalable Internet Applications, Michael Haungs, Raju Pandey, Earl Barr

Computer Science and Software Engineering

User perceived quality is the most important aspect of Internet applications. After a single negative experience, users tend to switch to one of the other myriad of alternatives available to them on the Internet. Two key components of Internet application quality are scalability and reliability. In this paper, we present the first general-purpose mechanism capable of maintaining reliability in the face of process, machine, and catastrophic failures. We define catastrophic failures as events that cause entire clusters of servers to become unavailable such as network partitioning, router failures, natural disasters, or even terrorist attacks. Our mechanism utilizes client-side tunneling, clientside …

Human-Robot Interaction, Erika Rogers

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The relationship between robots and humans is so different in character from other human-machine relationships that it warrants its own field of study. Robots differ from simple machines and even from complex computers in that they are often designed to be mobile and autonomous. They are not as predictable as other machines; they can enter a human’s personal space, forcing a kind of social interaction that does not happen in other human-machine relationships.

Sils Mrat: A Multi-Agent Decision-Support System For Shipboard Integration Of Logistics Systems, Michael Zang, Jonathan Lee, Joyce Gaoiran, Adam Gray, Jered Gray, Charles Hayek, David Nau, Chad Pond, Michael Rutter, Zachary Speck, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report describes work performed by CDM Technologies Inc. on subcontract to ManTech Advanced Systems International, Inc. (Fairmont, West Virginia), and under sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The principal aim of the SILS (Shipboard Integration of Logistics Systems) project is to provide a decision-support capability for Navy ships that integrates shipboard logistical and tactical systems within a near real-time, automated, computer-based shipboard readiness and situation awareness facility. Specifically, SILS is intended to provide the captain of a ship and his staff with an accurate evaluation of the current condition of the ship, based on the ability of …