A fuzzy controller is usually designed by formulating the knowledge of a human expert into a set of linguistic variables and fuzzy rules. Among the most successful methods to automate the fuzzy controllers development process are evolutionary algorithms. In this work, we propose the Recurrent Fuzzy Voronoi (RFV) model, a representation for recurrent fuzzy systems. It is an extension of the FV model proposed by Kavka and Schoenauer that extends the application domain to include temporal problems. The FV model is a representation for fuzzy controllers based on Voronoi diagrams that can represent fuzzy systems with synergistic rules, fulfilling the $ε$-completeness property and providing a simple way to introduce a priory knowledge. In the proposed representation, the temporal relations are embedded by including internal units that provide feedback by connecting outputs to inputs. These internal units act as memory elements. In the RFV model, the semantic of the internal units can be specified together with the a priori rules. The geometric interpretation of the rules allows the use of geometric variational operators during the evolution. The representation and the algorithms are validated in two problems in the area of system identification and evolutionary robotics.

Probabilistic sampling methods have become very popular to solve single-shot path planning problems. Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs) in particular have been shown to be efficient in solving high dimensional problems. Even though several RRT variants have been proposed for dynamic replanning, these methods only perform well in environments with infrequent changes. This paper addresses the dynamic path planning problem by combining simple techniques in a multi-stage probabilistic algorithm. This algorithm uses RRTs for initial planning and informed local search for navigation. We show that this combination of simple techniques provides better responses to highly dynamic environments than the RRT extensions.

Probabilistic sampling methods have become very popular to solve single-shot path planning problems. Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs) in particular have been shown to be very efficient in solving high dimensional problems. Even though several RRT variants have been proposed to tackle the dynamic replanning problem, these methods only perform well in environments with infrequent changes. This paper addresses the dynamic path planning problem by combining simple techniques in a multi-stage probabilistic algorithm. This algorithm uses RRTs as an initial solution, informed local search to fix unfeasible paths and a simple greedy optimizer. The algorithm is capable of recognizing when the local search is stuck, and subsequently restart the RRT. We show that this combination of simple techniques provides better responses to a highly dynamic environment than the dynamic RRT variants.

This document is a thesis on the subject of single-agent on-line path planning in continuous,unpredictable and highly dynamic environments. The problem is finding and traversing a collision-free path for a holonomic robot, without kinodynamic restrictions, moving in an environment with several unpredictably moving obstacles or adversaries. The availability of perfect information of the environment at all times is assumed. Several static and dynamic variants of the Rapidly Exploring Random Trees (RRT) algorithm are explored, as well as an evolutionary algorithm for planning in dynamic environments called the Evolutionary Planner/Navigator. A combination of both kinds of algorithms is proposed to overcome shortcomings in both, and then a combination of a RRT variant for initial planning and informed local search for navigation, plus a simple greedy heuristic for optimization. We show that this combination of simple techniques provides better responses to highly dynamic environments than the RRT extensions.

Time perception and inferences there from are of critical importance to many autonomous agents. But time is not perceived directly by any sensory organ. We argue that time is constructed by cognitive processes. Here we present a model for time perception that concentrates on succession and duration, and that generates these concepts and others, such as continuity, immediate present duration, and lengths of time. These concepts are grounded through the perceptual process itself. The LIDA cognitive model is used to illustrate these ideas.

This work presents a new application of a mathematical theory of psychological behavior from Usher and McClelland and the random utility model from McFadden, to the web user behavior. The model describes the stochastic behavior of a general kind of web users, consisting of the probability of following a hyperlink for a specific length of time. The simulation experiment together with the artificial agent illustrates behavioral patterns characteristic of human subjects.

We present a novel Bayesian topic model for learning discourse-level document structure. Our model leverages insights from discourse theory to constrain latent topic assignments in a way that reflects the underlying organization of document topics. We propose a global model in which both topic selection and ordering are biased to be similar across a collection of related documents. We show that this space of orderings can be effectively represented using a distribution over permutations called the Generalized Mallows Model. We apply our method to three complementary discourse-level tasks: cross-document alignment, document segmentation, and information ordering. Our experiments show that incorporating our permutation-based model in these applications yields substantial improvements in performance over previously proposed methods.

When modeling real-world decision-theoretic planning problems in the Markov decision process (MDP) framework, it is often impossible to obtain a completely accurate estimate of transition probabilities. For example, natural uncertainty arises in the transition specification due to elicitation of MDP transition models from an expert or data, or non-stationary transition distributions arising from insufficient state knowledge. In the interest of obtaining the most robust policy under transition uncertainty, the Markov Decision Process with Imprecise Transition Probabilities (MDP-IPs) has been introduced to model such scenarios. Unfortunately, while solutions to the MDP-IP are well-known, they require nonlinear optimization and are extremely time-consuming in practice. To address this deficiency, we propose efficient dynamic programming methods to exploit the structure of factored MDPIPs. Noting that the key computational bottleneck in the solution of MDP-IPs is the need to repeatedly solve nonlinear constrained optimization problems, we show how to target approximation techniques to drastically reduce the computational overhead of the nonlinear solver while producing bounded, approximately optimal solutions. Our results show up to two orders of magnitude speedup in comparison to traditional “flat” dynamic programming approaches and up to an order of magnitude speedup over the extension of factored MDP approximate value iteration techniques to MDP-IPs.

This paper presents a multilayered architecture that enhances the capabilities of current QA systems and allows different types of complex questions or queries to be processed. The answers to these questions need to be gathered from factual information scattered throughout different documents. Specifically, we designed a specialized layer to process the different types of temporal questions. Complex temporal questions are first decomposed into simple questions, according to the temporal relations expressed in the original question. In the same way, the answers to the resulting simple questions are recomposed, fulfilling the temporal restrictions of the original complex question. A novel aspect of this approach resides in the decomposition which uses a minimal quantity of resources, with the final aim of obtaining a portable platform that is easily extensible to other languages. In this paper we also present a methodology for evaluation of the decomposition of the questions as well as the ability of the implemented temporal layer to perform at a multilingual level. The temporal layer was first performed for English, then evaluated and compared with: a) a general purpose QA system (F-measure 65.47% for QA plus English temporal layer vs. 38.01% for the general QA system), and b) a well-known QA system. Much better results were obtained for temporal questions with the multilayered system. This system was therefore extended to Spanish and very good results were again obtained in the evaluation (F-measure 40.36% for QA plus Spanish temporal layer vs. 22.94% for the general QA system).

Farm managers have to deal with many conflicting objectives when planning which crop to cultivate. Soil characteristics are extremely important when determining yield potential. Fertilization and liming are commonly used to adapt soils to the nutritional requirements of the crops to be cultivated. Planting the crop that will best fit the soil characteristics is an interesting alternative to minimize the need for soil treatment, reducing costs and potential environmental damages. In addition, farmers usually look for investments that offer the greatest potential earnings with the least possible risks. According to the objectives to be considered the crop selection problem may be difficult to solve using traditional tools. Therefore, this work proposes an approach based on Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms to help in the selection of an appropriate cultivation plan considering five crop alternatives and five objectives simultaneously.