Patent EP0367544A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0367544A2
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EP
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Process control using intelligence-based systems
Assignee: INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE
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Filing: 1989-10-30
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-10-30
Abstract
Abstract A method is provided of designing a monitoring and control system for laboratory and industrial process applications. The method consists of specifying the instruments and controllers to be used for monitoring and control using a graphics and natural language interface, linking the graphical description of the instruments and controllers to the external instruments and controllers through an electronic interface, building an expert system knowledge base for supervising the control of the process or laboratory experiment, defining the inference engine which actually runs the process or experiment, and using the graphics and natural language interface to query the system in real time. Apparatus incorporating this method is also provided.
Inventors
- 👤 Bernard Fleet
- 👤 Haritharan Gunasingham
- 👤 Mun Leong Wong
- 👤 Jimmy Kim Leng Seow
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 17:30
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F8/00; G06F8/30; G06F8/31; G06F8/313; G05; G05B; G05B13/00; G05B13/02; G05B13/0265; G05B13/028; G06N; G06N5/00; G06N5/02; G06N5/022
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
97 words
A method of designing a monitoring and control system for laboratory and industrial process applications comprising the steps of: specifying the instruments and controllers used for monitoring and control using a graphics and natural language interface, linking the graphical description of the instruments and controllers to the external instruments and controllers through an electronic interface, building an expert system knowledge base for supervising the control of the process or laboratory experiment, defining the inference engine which actually runs the process or experiment, and using the graphics and natural language interface to query the system in real time.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
97 words
A method of designing a monitoring and control system for laboratory and industrial process applications comprising the steps of: specifying the instruments and controllers used for monitoring and control using a graphics and natural language interface, linking the graphical description of the instruments and controllers to the external instruments and controllers through an electronic interface, building an expert system knowledge base for supervising the control of the process or laboratory experiment, defining the inference engine which actually runs the process or experiment, and using the graphics and natural language interface to query the system in real time.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 on which the graphics and natural language interface is in Prolog.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the graphics include ICONS and the functional characteristics of the ICONS include procedures written in a procedural language such as C or assembly language.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 wherein a window facility is used to draw variants of the process or laboratory experiment schematics.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 2 in which the interface permits constructing the elements of the process or laboratory control system by specifying the functional characteristics of the elements without setting out the order in which they are to be used, the order of operation is being automatically inferred by the inference engine.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 5 in which the inference engine is programmed in Prolog.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the interface permits the user to specify the functional characteristics of the process control elements using the graphics and natural language interface via a mouse and keyboard respectively.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the linking between the graphics and the external instruments and controllers is implemented using a frame structure.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 8 wherein Prolog is used to implement the frame structure.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the inference engine is defined into a first part which enables the monitoring of processes and instruments, and a second part dealing with the control of the process or instruments.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the inference engine is implemented in Prolog.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the expert system knowledge base uses expert knowledge in the form of heuristics to make control decisions based on data input from the laboratory experiment or process.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the user is able to modify the knowledge base of the expert system by adding and deleting Prolog facts and predicates using the graphics and natural language interface.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
102 words
Apparatus for designing a monitoring and control system for laboratory and industrial processes comprising: instruments and controllers positioned in the process for reading and controlling process data; a graphics and natural language interface for specifying the instruments and controllers used for monitoring and control; an electronic interface linking the graphical description of the instruments and controllers to the external instruments and controllers; an expert system knowledge base for supervising the control of the process or laboratory experiment; an inference engine which actually runs the process or experiment; and the graphics and natural interface including means to query the system in real time.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
102 words
Apparatus for designing a monitoring and control system for laboratory and industrial processes comprising: instruments and controllers positioned in the process for reading and controlling process data; a graphics and natural language interface for specifying the instruments and controllers used for monitoring and control; an electronic interface linking the graphical description of the instruments and controllers to the external instruments and controllers; an expert system knowledge base for supervising the control of the process or laboratory experiment; an inference engine which actually runs the process or experiment; and the graphics and natural interface including means to query the system in real time.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 in which the graphics and natural language interface is in Prolog.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein the graphics include ICONS and the functional characteristics of the ICONS include procedures written in a procedural language such as C or assembly language.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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