waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
learning structured reactive navigation plans from executing mdp navigation policies  autonomous robots, such as robot office couriers, need navigation routines that support flexible task execution and effective action planning. this paper describes \xfl, a system that learns structured symbolic navigation plans. given a navigation task, \xfl\ learns to structure continuous navigation behavior and represents the learned structure as compact and transparent plans. the structured plans are obtained by starting with monolithical default plans that are optimized for average performance and adding subplans to improve the navigation performance for the given task. compactness is achieved by incorporating only subplans that achieve significant performance gains. the resulting plans support action planning and opportunistic task execution. \xfl\ is implemented and extensively evaluated on an autonomous mobile robot.  michael beetz thorsten belker
generalization in partially connected layered neural networks  we study the learning from examples in a partially connected single layer perceptron and a two-layer network. partially connected student networks learn from fully connected teacher networks. we study the generalization in the annealed approximation. we consider a single layer perceptron with binary weights. when a student is weakly diluted, there is a first order phase transition from the poor learning to the good learning state similar to that of fully connected perceptron. with a strong dilution, the first order phase transition disappears and the generalization error decreases continuously. we also study learning of a two-layer committee machine with binary weights. contrary to the perceptron learning, there always exist a first order transition irrespective of dilution. the permutation symmetry is broken at the transition point and the generalization error is reduced to a non-zero minimum value.  kyung-hoon kwon kukjin kang jong-hoon oh
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts or the effects of interfacing waterloo script with the ibm 6670 information distributor  waterloo script is a powerful text formatting language with extensive capabilities. the ibm 6670 information distributor is a laser printer that produces high-quality output. however, without special considerations, text formatted with waterloo script cannot be printed correctly on the 6670. an interface is needed in order to allow use of both technologies together. this paper presents the evolution of clemson's script/6670 post processor and examines its impact on users as well as the academic computing support staff at clemson university.  janet m. hall
sensible agents: an implemented multi-agent system and testbed  sensible agents have been engineered to solve distributed problems in complex, uncertain, and dynamic domains. each sensible agent is composed of four modules: the action planner, perspective modeler, conflict resolution advisor, and autonomy reasoner. these modules give sensible agents the abilities to plan, model, resolve individual conflicts, and change agent system organization. two component suites provide a variety of user- oriented features: the sensible agent run- time environment (sarte) and the sensible agent testbed. the sarte provides facilities for instantiating sensible agents, deploying a sensible agent system, and monitoring run- time operations. the sensible agents testbed facilitates automated generation of parameter combinations for controlled experiments, deterministic and non- deterministic simulation, and configuration of sensible agents and data acquisition. experimentation is a crucial step in gaining insight into the behavior of agents, as well as evidence toward or against hypotheses. using a real- world example, this paper explains and demonstrates: (1) the functional capabilities of sensible agents, (2) the sensible agent run- time environments facilities for monitoring and control of sensible agent systems and (3) the experimental set- up, monitoring, and analysis capabilities of the sensible agent testbed.  k. s. barber r. mckay m. macmahon c. e. martin d. n. lam a. goel d. c. han j. kim
a subset coloring algorithm and its applications to computer graphics  we consider the following problem: we are given a diagram made up of intersecting circles, where each region is colored either black or white. we wish to display this diagram on a bitmap device, where we are allowed to (i) paint a given circle white and (ii) invert the colors within a given circle, changing white to black and vice versa. (these operations are frequently provided in graphics hardware or software.) we ask: using only these paint and invert operations, is it possible to draw the diagram? a generalization of this problem leads to an analogous coloring problem on a subset of the power set of n elements. we give a polynomial-time algorithm that answers the question above, and produces a "short" sequence of instructions to draw the diagram, if one exists. a simple modification of the algorithm permits us to handle the case where there are more colors than just black and white, and the colors are represented by bit strings. this corresponds to the conventions frequently used with color raster devices.  d. rubinstein j. shallit m. szegedy
automatic model synthesis: using automatic programming and expert systems techniques toward simulation modeling  a knowledge-based model construction (kbmc) system is described which has been developed to automate the model construction phase of the simulation life- cycle. the system utilizes a knowledge-based approach to automatic programming to build a simulation model and extends the knowledge-based approach to include model specification acquisition. the system's underlying rule base, implemented in the production system paradigm of ops83, incorporates several types of knowledge. domain knowledge is used in conjunction with simulation modeling knowledge to facilitate a structured interactive dialog for the acquisition of a complete model specification from a user. modeling knowledge and target language (siman) knowledge are then used to automatically construct an executable discrete simulation model from this specification. this paper presents an overview of the kbmc system and focuses on various issues involved in the conceptualization and implementation of such a system.  karen j. murray sallie v. sheppard
natural and efficient viewing parameters  the viewing scheme in the core graphics system is based on a unified approach to the specification of the viewing parameters for all types of planar geometric projections. as a result, the specification of some of the viewing parameters is inconsistent with traditional ways of specification and will often be found unnatural for use in certain application areas. additionally, this choice of viewing parameters leads to inefficient implementations of viewing parameter modification, particularly in a high-performance graphics system which supports transformations in hardware or firmware.  the natural ways to specify the different viewing parameters are discussed and efficiency considerations for viewing implementations are described. the core system viewing scheme is evaluated in terms of its naturalness and efficiency of implementation. an alternate viewing scheme is proposed that provides viewing parameters that are more natural for many applications and that can he modified more efficiently.  james c. michener ingrid b. carlbom
integrating analogical reasoning in a natural language understander  the research described in this paper addresses the problem of integrating analogical reasoning and argumentation into a natural language understanding system. we present an approach to completing an implicit argument-by-analogy as found in a natural language editorial text. the transformation of concepts from one domain to another, which is inherent in this task, is a complex process requiring basic reasoning skills and domain knowledge, as well as an understanding of the structure and use of both analogies and arguments. the integration of knowledge about natural language understanding, argumentation, and analogical reasoning is demonstrated in a proof of concept system called ariel. ariel is able to detect the presence of an analogy in an editorial text, identify the source and target components, and develop a conceptual representation of the completed analogy in memory. the design of our system is modular in nature, permitting extensions to the existing knowledge base and making the argumentation and analogical reasoning components portable to other understanding systems.  stephanie e. august lawrence p. mcnamee
representation and extraction of volumetric attributes using trivariate splines: a mathematical framework  our goal in this paper is to leverage traditional strengths from the geometric design and scientific visualization communities to produce a tool valuable to both. we present a method for representing and specifying attribute data across a trivariate nurbs volume. some relevant attribute quantities include material composition and density, optical indices of refraction and dispersion, and data from medical imaging. the method is independent of the granularity of the physical geometry, allowing for a decoupling of the resolution of the carried data from that of the volume. volume attributes can be modeled or fit to data.  a method is presented for efficient evaluation of trivariate nurbs. we incorporate methods for data analysis and visualization including isosurface extraction, planar slicing, volume ray tracing, and optical path tracing, all of which are grounded in refinement theory for splines. the applications for these techniques are diverse, including such fields as optics, fluid dynamics, and medical visualization.  william martin elaine cohen
introduction to gpss  summary information about key aspects of the simulation modeling language gpss is provided.the class of problems to which gpss applies especially well is described; commentary on the semantics and syntax the language is offered; the learning-oriented literature for gpss is summarized; various gpss implementations are commented on; the time-sharing networks offering gpss are cited; and public courses on the language are listed.  the gpss tutorial itself will delve into the fundamental details of gpss and present examples of simple gpss models. copies of the transparencies used for the tutorial will be distributed to those in attendance. (these transparency copies are excluded from reproduction here because of page-count limits.)  thomas j. schriber
technique for automatically correcting words in text  research aimed at correcting words in text has focused on three progressively more difficult problems:(1) nonword error detection; (2) isolated-word error correction; and (3) context-dependent work correction. in response to the first problem, efficient pattern-matching and n-gram analysis techniques have been developed for detecting strings that do not appear in a given word list. in response to the second problem, a variety of general and application- specific spelling correction techniques have been developed. some of them were based on detailed studies of spelling error patterns. in response to the third problem, a few experiments using natural-language-processing tools or statistical-language models have been carried out. this article surveys documented findings on spelling error patterns, provides descriptions of various nonword detection and isolated-word error correction techniques, reviews the state of the art of context-dependent word correction techniques, and discusses research issues related to all three areas of automatic error correction in text.  karen kukich
an application of machine learning to the problem of parameter setting in non- destructive testing  this article presents an aid system for the setting of non-destructive testing instruments. some problems inherent in this field are briefly discussed, before showing how they led us to introduce machine learning techniques into the system. the approach uses learning from examples. the goal of the learning module is to determine dependencies between parameters of different experiments in order to automatically generate a set of rules. a prototype, called mandrin, has been implemented and is being evaluated on a real application: an x-ray tomograph. the first results are presented in the last section.  j. c. royer a. merle c. de sainte marie
optical mark reading - making it easy for users  one of the technologies in common use at university computer centers is optical mark reading (omr). at clemson university this form of input is becoming more widely used; as a result, faculty and staff who have had no previous contact with computing are beginning to depend on computer processing of their multiple-choice tests and survey forms. student government elections have been processed using omr input. as omr usage has increased, the need has arisen for additional user services support in the areas of omr documentation, education, utility programming, and office procedures.  this paper will briefly trace the history of omr usage at clemson university. a detailed explanation will be made of how clemson faculty and staff are able to maximize their usage of omr with minimum knowledge of computing through the use of standardized omr forms and test-scoring programs. potential uses of omr equipment in a university environment will also be discussed.  andrew m. smith
classic learning  description logics, also called terminological logics, are commonly used in knowledge-based systems to describe objects and their relationships. we investigate the learnability of a typical description logic, classic, and show that classic sentences are learnable in polynomial time in the exact learning model using equivalence queries and membership queries (which are in essence, "subsumption queries"). we show that membership queries alone are insufficient for polynomial time learning of classic sentences. combined with earlier negative results of cohen and hirsh showing that, given standard complexity theoretic assumptions, equivalence queries alone are insufficient (or random examples alone in the pac setting are insufficient), this shows that both sources of information are necessary for efficient learning in that neither type alone is sufficient. in addition, we show that a modification of the algorithm deals robustly with persistent malicious two-sided classification noise in the membership queries with the probability of a misclassification bounded below 1/2.  michael frazier leonard pitt
combining antithetic variates and control variates in simulation experiments  antithetic variates and control variates are two well-known variance reduction techniques. we consider combining antithetic variates and control variates to estimate the mean response in a stochastic simulation experiment. when applying antithetic variates to generate control variates across paired replications, we show that the integrated control-variate estimator is unbiased and yields, under the assumption of common correlations induced for all control variates, a smaller variance than the conventional control-variate estimator without using antithetic variates. we examine the proposed estimator and two alternative integrated control-variate estimators when applying antithetic variates on control variates and show that the proposed estimator is the optimal integrated control-variate estimator we implement these three integrated control-variate estimators and the conventional control-variate estimator in a simulation model of a stochastic network to evaluate the performance of each control-variate estimator empirical results show that the proposed estimator outperforms the other control-variate estimators.  wei-ning yang wei-win liou
fpga implementation of a novel, fast motion estimation algorithm for real-time video compression  a novel block matching algorithm for motion estimation in a video frame sequence, well suited for a high performance fpga implementation is presented in this paper. the algorithm is up to 40% faster when compared to one of the fastest existing algorithms, viz., one-at-a-time step search algorithm without compromising either in the image quality or in the compression effected. the speed advantage is preserved even in the event of a sudden scene change in a video sequence. the proposed algorithm is also capable of dynamically detecting the direction of motion of image blocks. the fpga implementation of the algorithm is capable of processing color pictures of sizes up to 1024x768 pixels at the real time video rate of 25 frames/second and conforms to mpeg-2 standards.  s. ramachandran s. srinivasan
distributed, parallel simulation of multiple, deliberative agents  multi-agent systems comprise multiple, deliberative agents embedded in and recreating patterns of interactions. each agent's execution consumes considerable storage and calculation capacities. for testing multi-agent systems, distributed parallel simulation techniques are required that take the dynamic pattern of composition and interaction of multi-agent systems into account. analyzing the behavior of agents in virtual, dynamic environments necessitates relating the simulation time to the actual execution time of agents. since the execution time of deliberative components can hardly be foretold, conservative techniques based on lookahead are not applicable. on the other hand, optimistic techniques become very expensive if mobile agents and the creation and deletion of model components are affected by a rollback. the developed simulation layer of james (a java based agent modeling environment for simulation) implements a moderately optimistic strategy which splits simulation and external deliberation into different threads and allows simulation and deliberation to proceed concurrently by utilizing simulation events as synchronization points.  a. m. uhrmacher k. gugler
on the relationship between autoepistemic logic and parallel circumscription  the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between two approaches to the formalization of non-monotonic reasoning - j. mccarthy's approach based on the notion of circumscription [mc] and the autoepistemic logic approach of r. moore [mr]. since these two approaches differ considerably in scope, we will limit our attention to the situation where some common ground can be found. namely, we consider only the propositional case of parallel circumpsription, when all predicates of a formula t are circumscribed simultaneously.  m gelfond h przymusinska
a self interpreter for balinda lisp  an intepreter for balinda lisp, a parallel lisp dialect designed for the biddle machine [1], is presented. the interpreter is itself written in balinda lisp, and is not at present executable. however, it constitutes a detailed specification of the language and a description of how to execute it, and will be used in subsequent implementations on biddle and other computers. a number of system primitives required to implement the language have also been specified.  c. k. yuen w. f. wong
representing visual conditions in a legal knowledge based system  legal kbss are based on knowledge contained in legal texts such as legislation, regulations and case histories and the practice of domain experts charged with operationalising this legislation. legal texts and their opertionalisation can be analysed using textual analysis tools which lead to the production of a rule base which can be manipulated to establish a desired goal. in this paper we describe an approach to the development of legal kbss where the legal texts include visual conditions which do not lend themselves to simple interpretation using textual analysis tools. the approach focuses on the use of preprocessors to generate descriptors derived from the geometrical interpretation of the visual data in question. these descriptors can then be used as direct input to a kbs without the need to include complex mathematics, to which kbs representations are not well suited, within individual rules. the approach was developed as part of a much larger project concerned with the production of a legal kbs to advise the navigators of ocean going vessels on how best to avoid collision with other vessels as prescribed by international maritime law. a fragment of the legislation on which this kbs is based is used as an example.  frans coenen trevor bench-capon peter smeaton
a formal framework for inter-agent dialogues  we present a logic-based formalism for modeling of dialogues between intelligent and autonomous software agents, building on a theory of abstract dialogue games which we present. the formalism enables representation of complex dialogues as sequences of moves in a combination of dialogue games, and allows dialogues to be embedded inside one another. the formalism can be readily operationalized and its modular nature enables different types of dialogues to be represented.  peter mcburney simon parsons
3d behavioral model design for simulation and software engineering  modeling is used to build structures that serve as surrogates for other objects. as children, we learn to model at a very young age. an object such as a small toy train teaches us about the structure and behavior of an actual train. vrml is a file standard for representing the structure of objects such as trains, while the behavior would be represented in a computer language such as ecmascript or java. vrml is an abbreviation for virtual reality modeling language [2], which represents the standard 3d language for the web. our work is to extend the power of vrml so that it is used not only for defining shape models, but also for creating structures for behavior. "behavior shapes" are built using metaphors mapped onto wellknown dynamic model templates such as finite state machines, functional block models and petri nets. the low level functionality of the design still requires a traditional programming language, but this level is hidden underneath a modeling level that is visualized by the user. we have constructed a methodology called rube which provides guidelines on building behavioral structures in vrml. the result of our endeavors has yielded a set of vrml prototypes that serve as dynamic model templates. we demonstrate several examples of behaviors using primitive shape and architectural metaphors.  paul a. fishwick
inbetweening for computer animation utilizing moving point constraints  this paper presents an approach to computerized inbetweening which allows the animator more control over an interpolation sequence than existing keyframe techniques. in our approach, the animator specifies in addition to a set of keyframe constraints, a set of new constraints called moving points. moving points are curves in space and time which constrain both the trajectory and dynamics of certain points on the keyframes. the sets of keyframes and moving points form a constraint or patch network specification of the desired dynamics. several algorithms are presented for inbetweening or completing such a patch network. by measuring these algorithms with respect to a set of evaluation criteria, the algorithm which best meets our interpolation needs is selected.  william t. reeves
a device independent graphics imaging model for use with raster devices  in building graphic systems for use with raster devices, it is difficult to develop an intuitive, device independent model of the imaging process, and to preserve that model over a variety of device implementations. this paper describes an imaging model and an associated implementation strategy that:  1\\. integrates scanned images, text, and synthetically generated graphics into a uniform device independent metaphor;  2\\. isolates the device dependent portions of the implementation to a small set of primitives, thereby minimizing the implementation cost for additional devices;  3\\. has been implemented for binary, grey-scale, and full color raster display systems, and for high resolution black and white printers and color raster printers.  john warnock douglas k. wyatt