An Experimental Comparison of Knowledge Representation Schemes

Many techniques for representing knowledge have been proposed, but there have been few reports that compare their application This article presents an experimental comparison of four knowledge representation schemes: a simple production system, a structured production system, a frame system, and a logic system. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dr Edward A. Feigenbaum and H Penny Nii of Stanford University for discussing the early results of this research during their visit to the authors' laboratory The authors also would like to acknowledge the support of Dr Jun Kawasaki, the general manager of Systems Development Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd This information helps an expert system designer clarify the domain's characteristics and develop a conceptual system design. However, little information is provided for selecting adequate techniques after the system's function (input/output) is determined. The system was designed to interpret the X-ray powder diffraction spectra of rocks to determine their constituent minerals. This article focuses on expert system building tools; however, there may be many cases where no such tools are available.