Implementation of knowledge based environments for computer aided control engineering

The authors describe the efforts that are being made to develop a suitable computer-aided control-engineering environment (CACEE) based on artificial-intelligence technologies. The aim is to obtain an efficient, modern, integrated environment for control and system engineering education, research, and development. From a set of functional requirements, the environment is characterized by a software structure viewed as a composite object to assist the user in problem-formulation and problem-solving tasks. The authors´ focus is on the problem formulation task, where descriptive knowledge is predominant. The knowledge representation scheme is based on frames. A prototype implementation coded in a logic programming language is presented. Implementation issues related to the knowledge base programming are also discussed to show how the environment integrates conceptual and formal knowledge. An example is included to illustrate the usefulness of the approach