Abstract: A reconfigurable neural network includes several switches each having at least two conductive leads, data flow direction of the conductive leads is programmed to select one of the conductive leads as input switch lead and select another one of the conductive leads as an output switch lead. Several processing elements each having leads connected to the switches, where the processing elements and the switches are interconnected in one-dimension manner. The neural network of interconnected switches and processing elements has a bit-serial input and a bit-serial output.

Abstract: A mapping circuit includes a linear circuit for outputting a signal which is linearly changed with respect to its input, a non-linear circuit for outputting a signal which is non-linearly changed with respect to its input, and an adder for summing the output signals of the linear and non-linear circuits and an external input signal. A chaotic neuron circuit using the mapping circuit has a simple structure and more precise chaos characteristics. A chaotic neural network can thus be formed by the serial and/or parallel interconnection of a plurality of chaotic neuron circuits, wherein the weight of each neuron is controlled.

Abstract: A reconfigurable neural network is disclosed. The neural network includes a plurality of switches each having at least two conductive leads, wherein data flow direction of the conductive leads of the switches is programmed to select one of the conductive leads as input switch lead and select another one of the conductive leads as an output switch lead. A plurality of processing elements each having a plurality of leads connected to the switches, wherein the processing elements and the switches are interconnected in one-dimension manner. Each of the processing elements comprising: (a) a serial-in-parallel-out accumulator having a first input coupled to one of the interconnected switches and generating a first output; (b) an activation function for transforming the first output of the serial-in-parallel-out accumulator and generating a second output; and (c) a parallel-in-serial-out shift register for shifting out the second output of the activation function serially to one of the interconnected switches.

Abstract: A behavioral based environment system and method for controlling an interactive playground. The system includes a system supervisor unit that utilizes a rule file, a scene file and a MIDI file in conjunction with a variety of sensor input to create an appropriate system response. Output control signals generated by the system supervisor unit are transmitted to other coupled computers to effectuate audio, visual and other effects in an interactive playground environment. The system supervisor has the desirable ability to load different scene, rule and MIDI files to create different system behavior in response to sensor stimuli, thereby creating a more adaptive behavioral based environment.

Abstract: Acceleration/deceleration processing is performed in industrial robot controls when there is a transit point in an instructed trajectory where the robot tip cannot follow the trajectory with the instructed velocity because of the allowable limit of acceleration of the robot tip. In the invention, for specifying the velocity reduction ratio at the transit point quantitatively and continuously in consideration of tradeoff between the tracking error and the continuity of the traveling speed, a transit velocity or the velocity at the transit point after acceleration/deceleration processing is calculated from a linear combination of two instructed velocities before and after the transit point referring a transit velocity parameter as the velocity reduction ratio.

Abstract: The present invention is a mobile redundant dexterous manipulator with a seven-degree-of-freedom robot arm mounted on a 1 degree-of-freedom mobile platform with a six-degree-of freedom end effector including a real-time control system with multiple modes of operation. The manipulator-plus-platform system has two degrees-of-redundancy for the task of hand placement and orientation. The redundancy resolution is achieved by accomplishing two additional tasks using a configuration control technique. This mobile manipulator with control system allows a choice of arm angle control or collision avoidance for the seventh task, and platform placement or elbow angle control for the eighth task. In addition, joint limit avoidance task is automatically invoked when any of the joints approach their limits. The robot is controlled by a processor employing a 6-by-7 Jacobian matrix for defining location and orientation of the end effector.

Abstract: A circuit (14) to evaluate a plurality of fuzzy logic rules as executable instructions in a data processor (310). A first instruction retrieves a fuzzy input value from memory (32) and stores it in an accumulator (58). A second instruction retrieves a second fuzzy input value from memory (32) and compares it to the fuzzy input value stored in the accumulator (58). The minimum value of the two fuzzy input values is then allowed to remain in the accumulator (58). Another program instruction retrieves a fuzzy output value from memory (32) and compares it to the value in the accumulator (58). The maximum of these two values is then determined by the instruction and this maximum value is then stored in memory (32).

Abstract: A system for allowing a person to experience systems of mythology. It includes an existential analyzer module (EAM), for assessing a portion of a person's meaningful experiential world. The EAM generates an existential descripter (EXD) data structure describing the assessments. A facilitator module (FAM) utilizes the assessment from the EXD data structure for determining at least one appropriate enactment. The FAM generates at least one enactment descripter (END) data structure describing the enactment chosen from the FAM. An enactor module (ENM) utilizes information from the EXD data structure and from the END data structure to generate a mythic virtual reality that incorporates the chosen enactment.

Abstract: A method of extracting a gate model from a fet model using a computer implemented expert system apparatus to perform the steps of recognizing power, ground and clock signals; recognizing inverters; recognizing and preserving all logic signals of the fet modeled circuit; building one or more structurally based boolean partial trees for each of the recognized logic signals; heuristically pruning the one or more boolean trees; and building logic equations from the one or more boolean partial trees. The expert system apparatus comprises a fet modeled input netlist, an inference engine, a rule base, a user input, and a gate modeled output netlist.

Abstract: For qualitative modeling and analysis, a general qualitative abstraction of power transmission variables (flow and effort) for elements of flow paths includes information on resistance, net flow, permissible directions of flow and qualitative potential. Each type of component model has flow-related variables and an associated internal flow map, connected into an overall flow network of the system. For storage devices, the implicit power transfer to the environment is represented by "virtual" circuits that include an environmental junction. A heterogeneous aggregation method simplifies the path structure. A method determines global flow-path changes during dynamic simulation and analysis, and identifies corresponding local flow state changes that are effects of global configuration changes. Flow-path determination is triggered by any change in a flow-related device variable in a simulation or analysis.

Abstract: A maximum value selector, for selecting the maximum value among m binary words of n-bits each, including: n unit-bit-parallel comparators connected serially, each comparator comparing bit values at a common position in all the words (the first comparator operating on the most significant, the second comparator operating on the n-1 bit position, . . . and the n-1 comparator operating upon the zeroith bit position) and a set corresponding carry signals bit by bit and outputting the thus-obtained maximum value designating signals to be used as the carry signals of the next lower significant bit; and a multiplexer for outputting the maximum value among m binary words in accordance with the maximum value designating signal output from the unit-bit-parallel comparator associated with the least significant bit.

Abstract: A control system for controlling a linear actuator including magnetic bearings for levitating a robot arm and a pulse motor for linearly driving the arm in a non-contact manner is disclosed, which comprises a displacement detection unit including displacement sensors, first and second calculation units, moving amount detection unit and adding circuit. The displacement detection unit detects displacement values of the arm from a reference posture, the first calculation unit calculates guiding (y), levitation (z), roll (p), pitching (q), and yaw (r) control current values in response to the displacement values and provides guiding, levitation, roll, pitching, and yaw control current signals (, , , , ). The moving amount detecting circuit detects a moving amount (X.sub.0) of the arm from a reference position in response to an operation of the pulse motor, and provides a compensation current value (.DELTA.Iq") proportional to the moving amount, and the adding circuit adds the compensation current value (.DELTA.

Abstract: An architecture and key algorithms are presented that simplify the implementation and improve the functionality of knowledge-based systems that employ case-based reasoning for data navigation tasks (e.g., solving help desk problems using a database of past problem instances). The various embodiments of the invention improve on the state-of-the-art in several respects: (a) provides greatly increased flexibility in choosing attributes relevant to a case in that choices are made dynamically at case acquisition instead of statically when the knowledge-based system is designed; (b) increased system flexibility and decreased system complexity by not requiring designers to specify the manner in which attribute values are compared; (c) simplified system design by avoiding the use of similarity metrics; (d) allows for the incremental acquisition of data in problem instances, instead of requiring that all potentially relevant data be collected; and (e) provides a way to explain why a problem solution was chosen.

Abstract: A system and method for designing a fixed weight analog neural network to perform analog signal processing allows the neural network to be designed with off-line training and implemented with low precision components. A global system error is iteratively computed in accordance with initialized neural functions and weights corresponding to a desired analog neural network configuration for analog signal processing. The neural weights are selectively modified during training and then expected values of weight implementation errors are added thereto. The error adjusted neural weights are used to recompute the global system error and the result thereof is compared to a desired global system error. These steps are repeated as long as the recomputed global system error is greater than the desired global system error. Following that, MOSFET parameters representing MOSFET channel widths and lengths are computed which correspond to the neural functions and weights.

Abstract: A contact type sensor for sensing an object includes a body; and a contacting member which contacts the body and a shaft. One end of the shaft is connected to the body of the sensor and another end of the shaft supports the contacting member. The shaft is rotatable within a predetermined plane, and the shaft is more flexible in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined plane than in a direction parallel to the predetermined plane.

Abstract: A system for applying artificial intelligence technology to data stored in databases and generates diagnostics that are user definable interpretations of information in the database. The diagnostics are stored in a database which can be queried with downdrilling to the associated data which generated the diagnostic. A set of bidirectional links is maintained between selected data items in the first database and the corresponding diagnostics in the second database. The system acts as an information compiler in developing a map of the raw data dimension into the structured dimension of intelligent interpretation of the data in the diagnostic database.

Abstract: A content processing system determines the content of input discourse. The content processing system includes a lexicon, which contains definitional characteristics for words and terms, and a knowledge catalog. The knowledge catalog provides independent and parallel static ontologies to accurately represent a broad coverage of concepts that define knowledge. The knowledge catalog also includes a dynamic level for expanding concepts in the static ontologies. A theme parsing system determines the thematic context of input discourse including identifying the topics of the discourse, generating summarized versions of the discourse, and identifying the key content of the discourse. A knowledge catalog processor processes the extracted content for use with the knowledge catalog. A theme vector processor identifies the most important themes in the input discourse, and maps these themes into the knowledge catalog.

Abstract: The invention consists of an eyetracker, a display driver, an adaptive display interface controller, and a digital computer. A user of the invention can operate a heads-up display (or a head mounted display) with an eyetracker, leaving his hands free to perform a manual control task. The user selects a display element from an array of choices on the heads-up display by gazing at an element while he activates a confirming mechanism. Both tasks share a common visual working area with overlaid visual images, and task interference is reduced since eye-movements and visual attention are dedicated to the same display surface.The adaptive display interface automatically aids the user in display operations during high manual task loading. The adaptive interface is driven by an electronic Expert System on human visual processes programmed as a Fuzzy Logic controller.

Abstract: The present invention estimates the cognitive decision made in response to a known stimulus from the corresponding single-event evoked cerebral potential. The present invention uses a unique recursive procedure to identify the decision from a mathematical description of the potential as the output of a cerebrally located, autoregressive, moving average filter with the stimulus as an exogenous input. The procedure employs in a two-step sequence, the least squares algorithm to update the filter coefficients, followed by a Taylor's Series approximation for updating an internal cerebral source signal which is generated in response to the external stimulus. The recursive procedure computes the attenuation used by the moving average component of the filter to produce the cerebral source signal. This procedure is repeated for all feasible cerebral source signals, computed from the set of possible event evoked average response potentials, to produce a set of attenuator-values.

Abstract: A new probabilistic computing system (PCS) provides computational functionality needed to efficiently realize randomized computing methods in otherwise standard, deterministic digital computing systems. The PCS may be incorporated in a standard computing platform such as a PC or workstation. In the PCS, a computational path includes a random access memory (RAM) where a predetermined computing problem is stored in conjunctive normal form. A nondeterministic subsystem generates random binary values forming a proposed solution to the problem, which solution is rapidly checked through a crosspoint switch array coupled to the RAM. The computational path essentially runs asynchronously, while a delay circuit provides delay and timing signals for interfacing with external DRAM, as well as a synchronizing signal for operation of several of the PCS systems together for enhanced performance.