The Parametric Interpretation Expert System (PIES) is a knowledge system for interpreting the parametric test data collected at the end of complex semiconductor fabrication processes. The system transforms hundreds of measurements into a concise statement of all the overall health of the process and the nature and probable cause of any anomalies. A key feature of PIES is the structure of the knowledge base, which reflects the way fabrication engineers reason causally about semiconductor failures. This structure permits fabrication engineers to do their own knowledge engineering, to build the knowledge base, and then to maintain it to reflect process modifications and operating experience.

This is the second part of a two-part article describing AI work at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). In the Space Operations Directorate, these groups include (1) the Mission Planning and Analysis Division (MPAD) - Technology Development and Applications Branch, (2) the Spacecraft Software Division, and (3) the Systems Division - Systems Support Section. This second part of the article describes the AI work in the Space Operations Directorate. The first part of the article, published in the last week of AI Magazine, (7:1, Summer 1986) described the AI work in the Research and Engineering Directorate.

I review the research leading from the GUIDON rule-based tutoring system, including the reconfiguration of MYCIN into NEOMYCIN and NEOMYCIN's generalization in the heuristic classification shell, HERACLES. The presentation is organized chronologically around pictures and dialogues that represent conceptual turning points and crystallize the basic ideas. My purpose is to collect the important results in one place, so they can be easily grasped. In the conclusion, I make some observations about our research methodology.

Hillis's book, like its bibliography, has something to offer nearly everyone in the computer science community, even those with no background in computer architecture. The book provides a glimpse of what the next generation of computers will be like.

This report describes recent and continuing research in artificial intelligence and related fields being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Although AI research takes place primarily in the Department of Computer and Information Science ( in School of Engineering and Applied Science), many aspects of this research are preformed in collaboration with other engineering departments as well as other schools at the University, such as the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Medicine, and Wharton School.

The objectives of this document (a part of a retrospective monograph on the AGE Project currently in preparation) are (1) to define what is meant by blackboard systems and (2) to show the richness and diversity of blackboard system designs. In Part 1 we discussed the underlying concept behind all blackboard systems -- the blackboard model of problem solving. We also traced the history of ideas and designs of some application systems that helped shape the blackboard model. In application systems, the blackboard system components are integrated into the domain knowledge required to solve the problem at hand.

This article provides some basic assistance to entrepreneurs involved in artificial intelligence, offering a synthesis of standard business-planning and capital-raising practices. Three main areas are discussed: (1) developing a corporate strategy, (2) developing a business plan that works, and (3) approaching sources of capital.

During the past two years, the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence has attracted considerable attention within the AI community as a promising method of dealing with uncertainty in expert systems. As presented in the literature, the theory is hard to master. In a simple approach that is outlined in this paper, the Dempster-Shafer theory is viewed in the context of relational databases as the application of familiar retrieval techniques to second-order relations in first normal form. The relational viewpoint clarifies some of the controversial issues in the Dempster-Shafer theory and facilities its use in AI-oriented applications.

Research and applications work in AI is being conducted by several groups at Johnson Space Center (JSC). In the Research and Engineering Directorate, these groups include (1) the Artificial Intelligence and Information Sciences Office, (2) the Simulation and Avionics Integration Division, (3) the Avionics Systems Division (ASD), and (4) the Tracking and Communications Division. In the Space Operations Directorate, these groups include (1) the Mission Planning and Analysis Division - Technology Development and Applications Branch, (2) the Spacecraft Software Division, and (3) the Systems Division-Systems Support Section. The first part of the article describes the AI work in Research and Engineering Directorate.

The objectives of this article are (1) to define what is meant by "blackboard systems" and (2) to show the richness and diversity of blackboard system designs. The article begins with a discussion of the underlying concept behind all blackboard systems, the blackboard model of problem solving. In Section 2 the history of ideas is traced, and the designs of some application systems that helped shape the blackboard model are detailed. Part 2 of this article which will appear in the next issue of AI Magazine, describes and contrasts some blackboard systems and discusses the characteristics of application problems suitable for the blackboard method of problem solving.