Herwig Schreiner

Modeling and solving technical product configuration problems

Abstract This paper describes and evaluates approaches to model and solve technical product configuration problems using different artificial intelligence methodologies. By means of a typical example, the benefits and limitations of different artificial intelligence methods are discussed and a flexible software architecture for integrating different solvers in a product configurator is proposed.

Re)configuration based on model generation

Reconfiguration is an important activity for companies selling configurable products or services which have a long life time. However, identification of a set of required changes in a legacy configuration is a hard problem, since even small changes in the requirements might imply significant modifications. In this paper we show a solution based on answer set programming, which is a logic-based knowledge representation formalism well suited for a compact description of (re)configuration problems. Its applicability is demonstrated on simple abstractions of several real-world scenarios. The evaluation of our solution on a set of benchmark instances derived from commercial (re)configuration problems shows its practical applicability.

SIEMENS: Configuration and Reconfiguration in Industry

Whereas the configuration of consumer products such as PCs, cars, insurances, and such is well understood and supported by commercial tools, large-scale industrial systems still raise considerable challenges concerning modeling, solving, and performance. After a short explanation of the importance of this topic to Siemens, this chapter presents the domain of railway interlocking systems as an example of such complex industrial systems and discusses detailed requirements for their configuration. It then reports on techniques used for solving those requirements at Siemens as well as on results of their application.

DiKe - A Model-Based Diagnosis Kernel and Its Application

This paper describes the DiKe model-based diagnosis framework, which incorporates multiple diagnosis engines, multiple user-level system description languages, a theorem prover, and a graphical user interface to provide an integrated toolset for the development of model-based diagnosis applications. The framework has been used for representing a number of application domains. We present the AD2L language, the main user language for the system geared towards use by non-specialists, and discuss the use of DiKe in various domains.

Twenty-Five Years of Successful Application of Constraint Technologies at Siemens

The development of problem solvers for configuration tasks is one of the most successful and mature application areas of artificial intelligence. The provision of tailored products, services, and systems requires efficient engineering and design processes where configurators play a crucial role. Because one of the core competencies of Siemens is to provide such highly engineered and customized systems, ranging from solutions for medium-sized and small businesses up to huge industrial plants, the efficient implementation and maintenance of configurators are important goals for the success of many departments. For more than 25 years the application of constraint-based methods has proven to be a key technology in order to realize configurators at Siemens. This article summarizes the main aspects and insights we have gained looking back over this period. In particular, we highlight the main technology factors regarding knowledge representation, reasoning, and integration which were important for our achievement. Finally we describe selected key application areas where the business success vitally depends on the high productivity of configuration processes.

Supporting Multiplicity and Hierarchy in Model-Based Configuration: Experiences and Lessons Learned

When developing large-scale industrial software systems engineers need to instantiate, configure, and deploy diverse reusable components. The number of component instances required depends on customer requirements only known during configuration and is typically unknown when modeling the systems’ variability. Also, the hierarchy of dynamically created component instances leads to complex dependencies between configuration decisions. Dealing with component multiplicity and hierarchy thus requires an approach capable of expressing the dependencies among dynamically instantiated components and configuration decisions. Furthermore, users need tool support for navigating the complex decision space during configuration. In this experience paper we report on applying a decision-oriented modeling approach for defining component variability, multiplicity, and hierarchy. We further present a configuration tool that guides end users through the complex decision space. We report applications of the approach to industrial software systems and describe patterns and lessons learned.

A public transportation journey planner enabled by IoT data analytics

Using the CityPulse framework we developed a proof of concept application for Braşov public transportation company. The application provides route recommendations and incident notifications for the citizens who travel by bus. This is achieved by processing in real-time the data streams about bus arrivals in stations and the incidents reported by citizens. The proof of concept application was presented to the representatives of Braşov municipality and public transport company.

Constraints als Schlüssel zu industriellen Konfigurator-Lösungen

ZusammenfassungModerne industriele Produkte und anlagen sollen viele Leistungsmerkmale bei niedrigen Produktionskosten bieten. Aus einer Menge von Komponenten werden variantenreiche individuelle Anlagen konfiguriert. Konfiguratoren mit Wissensbasen mit Constraints erfüllen diese Anforderungen, was mit großen industriellen Anwendungen gezeigt wurde.AbstractUp-to-date products and systems in industry want to offer many features at low production cost. Using a toolbox of components, individual systems with many variants are configured. Configurators using knowledge-bases with constraints fulfil those requirements. This has been shown with large industry applications.

ooSEM (poster session): a process model for object-oriented development in an industrial environment

Applying current object-oriented (OO) methods in an industrial environment is by itself not sufficient for a certification according to the norm EN ISO 9001, which requires the application of a comprehensive process model that includes, among other things, quality assurance. We present ooSEM in this poster, a process model for supporting OO development in an industrial environment based on a meta process model that is consistent with this norm. ooSEM is not a usual OO method but deals primarily with complementary aspects like project management and control, comprehensive documentation, quality assurance and configuration management, as required by EN ISO 9001. So, ooSEM is also flexible with respect to existing OO notations and methods. Specifically for OO modeling, ooSEM provides a clean solution to the problem of the transition from OO analysis to design, which is also the topic of a panel at OOPSLA 2000. ooSEM is available to the software developers in our environment through the companys intranet in the form of a Web application.