Abstract: We provide an overview of the Garlic project, a new project at the IBM Almaden Research Center. The goal of this project is to develop a system and associated tools for the management of large quantities of heterogeneous multimedia information. Garlic permits traditional and multimedia data to be

A framework for the qualitative representation of positional information in a two-dimensional space is presented. Qualitative representations use discrete quantity spaces, where a particular distinction is introduced only if it is relevant to the context being modeled. This allows us to build a flexible framework that accommodates various levels of granularity and scales of reasoning. Knowledge about position in large-scale space is commonly represented by a combination of orientation and distance relations, which we express in a particular frame of reference between a primary object and a reference object. While the representation of orientation comes out to be more straightforward, the model for distances requires that qualitative distance symbols be mapped to geometric intervals in order to be compared; this is done by defining structure relations that are able to handle, among others, order of magnitude relations; the frame of reference with its three components (distance system, s...

A technique to perform design calculations on imprecise representations of parameters has been developed and is presented. The level of imprecision in the description of design elements is typically high in the preliminary phase of engineering design. This imprecision is represented using the fuzzy calculus. Calculations can be performed using this method, to produce (imprecise) performance parameters from imprecise (input) design parameters. The Fuzzy Weighted Average technique is used to perform these calculations. A new metric, called the γ-level measure, is introduced to determine the relative coupling between imprecise inputs and outputs. The background and theory supporting this approach are presented, along with one example. 1.

Real-world scheduling is decision making under vague constraints of different importance, often using uncertain data, where compromises between antagonistic criteria are allowed. We explain in theory and by detailed examples a new combination of fuzzy set based constraints and repair based heuristics that help to model these scheduling problems. We simplify the mathematics needed for a method of eliciting the criteria's importances from human experts. We introduce a new consistency test for configuration changes. This test also helps to evaluate the sensitivity to configuration changes. We describe the implementation of these concepts in our fuzzy constraint library ConFLIP++ and in our heuristic repair library D'ej`aVu. Finally, we present results from scheduling a continuous caster unit in a steel plant.

: We describe Garlic, an object-oriented multimedia middleware query system. Garlic enables existing data management components, such as a relational database or a full text search engine, to be integrated into an extensible information management system that presents a common interface and user access tools. We focus in this paper on how QBIC, an image retrieval system that provides content-based image queries, can be integrated into Garlic. This results in a system in which a single query can combine visual and nonvisual data using type-specific search techniques, enabling a new breed of multimedia applications. 1 Introduction Many applications today require access to a broad range of datatypes. A patient's medical folder contains MRI scans (image), lab reports (text), doctors' dictated notes (audio), and address and insurance information (record-oriented database data). A geographic information system needs maps, satellite images, and data about roads, buildings, and populations. ...

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Methods for incorporating imprecision in engineering design decision-making are briefly reviewed and compared. A tutorial is presented on the Method of Imprecision (MoI), a formal method, based on the mathematics of fuzzy sets, for representing and manipulating imprecision in engineering design. The results of a design cost estimation example, utilizing a new informal cost specification, are presented. The MoI can provide formal information upon which to base decisions during preliminary engineering design and can facilitate set-based concurrent design.

The choice of an aggregation function is a common problem in Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) systems. The Method of Imprecision (MoI) is a formal theory for the manipulation of preliminary design information that represents preferences among design alternatives with the mathematics of fuzzy sets. The MoI formulates the preliminary design problem as a MADM problem. To date, two aggregation functions have been developed for the MoI, one representing a compensating strategy and one a noncompensating strategy. Much of the prior fuzzy sets research on aggregation functions has been inappropriate for application to engineering design. In this paper, the selection of an aggregation function for MADM schemes is discussed within the context of the MoI. The general restrictions on designappropriate aggregation functions are outlined, and a family of functions, modeling a range of trade-off strategies, is presented. The results are illustrated with an example. Keywords: Fuzzy design; Engineering; Aggregation functions;

. Similarly to human voluntary movements, a robot's elementary skills can coarsely be divided into two main categories: rapid transfer movements that are executed in an open loop with no opportunity for correction and slower controlled movements guided by sensorial feedback [6]. In this paper we consider two particular problems which arise when acquiring open-loop and closed-loop elementary skills: the segmentation of the trajectory into time intervals corresponding to different classes of the operator's motion and the preprocessing of the possibly bad examples that were recorded during a demonstration in order to make them suitable for skill learning. The proposed methods are based on the fuzzy set theory, statistics, and Shannon's information theory. 1 Introduction The increasing availability of sophisticated sensor systems for both manipulation and mobile robots makes the development of smarter and more adaptive robots possible. Such high-performance systems are opening new markets...

Fuzzy control is a methodology that transforms control rules (described by an expert in words of a natural language) into a precise control strategy. There exist several versions of this transformation. The main difference between these versions is in how they interpret logical connectives “and” and “or”, i.e., in other words, what reasoning method a version uses. Which of these versions should we choose? It turns out that on different stages of control, different reasoning methods lead to better control results. Therefore, a natural idea is not to fix a reasoning method once and forever, but to switch between different reasoning methods. In this chapter, we describe the optimal choice of the reasoning methods between which we switch.