We give a description of the problem and solution spaces, describing the fundamental theoretical issues, such knowledge sharing and task coordination.
We survey other relevant work, both theoretic and applied and give pointers to other sources of information. This survey is a synopsis of recent publications in conferences, workshops, and books.
We discuss the particular topic of Conflict Management. This is now recognized to be a crucial topic that is not yet well-understood. We describe the current approaches to this problem and what can be done pragmatically.
We describe an experiment called PACT in sharing information among diverse, geographically separated, knowledge-based systems. We also describe the SHADE project and associated tools, languages and representations that grew out of the PACT experiment, including KIF, KQML, and Ontolingua from the Stanford Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL). We will also cover the ICM project from CIFE.
We describe the current Next-Link system and its capabilities. Next-Link is a system for design and routing of aircraft electrical cables. We will give a live demonstration of multiple agents and using the Next-Link system to coordinate the design of a cable harness.
We then describe the fundamental issues of representation and design rationales using the Next-Link system as an example. We show that some of the features of this system are advanced but likely to be part of future useful systems in which multiple design engineers cooperate to produce a complex artifact. In particular, we show how this can be accomplished without requiring that each engineer use the same data repository, or even the same model of the artifact.
We briefly describe the artificial intelligence concepts employed, including search, dependency-directed backtracking, and truth maintenance. The goal of this part of the seminar is to transfer the concepts sufficiently to allow the participants to reimplement and modify them for their own concurrent engineering applications.
We describe how Redux works by showing examples from the Next-Link system, as well as examples from other applications of Redux.
There will be a student exercise in which the participants will collaborate on a design task using Redux coordination services. This will provide a hands-on opportunity to explore the capabilities of cutting-edge research and gain an early understanding of this future technology.
We survey use of artificial intelligence techniques in design and process planning and give examples of expert systems for injection molding and milling machine planning.
Internet Collaborative Tools We describe tools developed by Enterprise Technologies Inc. in collaboration with the Stanford Center for Design Research that take advantage of Internet facilities such as MBONE and World-Wide Web. These include using the Internet for video conferencing, shared whiteboards, asynchronous graphical annotation, prototyping, and product catalogs. We also discuss the state-of-the art for electronic design notebooks. This work is the result of research sponsored by the SHARE project funded by the ARPA MADE program.
One is the development of an agile manufacturing capability called ACaPS. The technology in this system allows customers to from specifications to design to semi-automated manufacture of electrical cable harness, using the Internet, and deliver prototypes in a few days.
The second is a recent ARPA experiment in collaborative design. A missile infrared tracker was redesigned for a demonstration. The significant part of this experiment was that it was performed concurrently by multiple universities and companies. The design and build part of the experiment was performed in in only three months. We describe the experiences of the participants and the lessons learned in this experiment, called MADEFAST.