A detection method of stagnation symptoms by using project progress models generated from project reports
The purpose of this research is to extract “stagnation symptoms” from progress reports related to a research project. A stagnation symptom is defined in a portion where remarkable stagnation is seen during the progress of a project. Specifically, according to project managers, stagnation symptoms can be classified into the following three kinds: first one is a project bottleneck grasped from one document; the second is clarified by comparing it with the most recent document; and the third is clarified from changes to a working object in a series of documents. We propose a method of extracting stagnation symptoms using the structural analysis of a project’s progress. A progress model that is a structural chart to expressing the progress of a project is generated from documents with label tags, which indicate prior contexts or attributes. This progress model has the following features: a multilevel layer model using detailed degrees and situation analysis using color, and relation analysis of these details and basis using color propagation. Stagnation symptoms are automatically extracted by applying stagnation symptom extraction rules to the progress model. This proposed method was been applied to a set of real progress reports. It could extract stagnation symptoms that were extracted manually.
Standards processing in an integrated engineering system
Abstract This paper discusses a standards processing architecture in integrated systems to handle different standards at different stages of the engineering design process, using the blackboard problem solving model. The standards processing model is based on the semantic mapping between the standard-independent and standard-dependent knowledge represented independently in separate knowledge sources. The semantic mapping in a coordinating knowledge source allows direct interaction of independently developed knowledge sources for efficient reasoning. The architecture provides a knowledge-based backtracking facility to handle failures. The model described here forms part of a project on the development of an integrated knowledge-based expert system for engineering of steel structures (covering planning, analysis, detailed design and construction management activities). The standards processing concepts are illustrated with the help of a loading standards processing and a design standards processing in the design of steel industrial structures.
Automated processing of design standards
This paper describes the development of software for automated processing of design standards. The language-compiler system developed is based on the decision table representation, which has been shown previously to be a systematic organizational model for processing design standards. The system provides a complete environment in which the entire process from creating a standard library to performing the design conformance checking is automated. Special features include an effective mmeans of maintaining libraries of standards and an interactive environment for the input and editing of decision tables representing the provisions of a standard. The system can accommodate future changes in design specification, is flexible enough to include different governing codes, and can readily interface with current computer-aided design programs. Consistency is automatically maintained between the provisions processed and design checking in the computer-aided design program. The prototype software developed represents a practical and feasible approach to the automation of the design checking process.