KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS 02

Wikipedia as a Knowledge-Based System

Wikipedia History

Wikipedia was founded as an offshoot of Nupedia. Nupedia had an elaborate system of peer review and required highly qualified contributors during 2000, Jimmy Wales, founder of Nupedia, and Larry Sanger, whom Wales had employed to work on the project, discussed ways of supplementing Nupedia with a more open, complementary project. Multiple sources suggested the idea that a wiki might allow members of the public to contribute material, and Nupedia's first wiki went online on January 10, 2001. There were Nupedia's editors and reviewers to the idea of associating Nupedia with a website in the wiki format, so the new project was given the name "Wikipedia" and launched on its own domain, wikipedia.com, on January 15, the domain was eventually changed to the present wikipedia.org when the not-for-profit Wikimedia Foundation was launched as its new parent organization.

Exploring Wikipedia

 

Many visitors come to Wikipedia to acquire knowledge, others to share knowledge. At this very instant, dozens of articles are being improved, and new articles are also being created. Changes can be viewed at the recent changes page and a random page at random articles. Over 2,000 articles have been designated by the Wikipedia community as featured articles, exemplifying the best articles in the encyclopedia. Another 7,000 articles are designated as good articles. Some information on Wikipedia is organized into lists; the best of these are designated as featured lists. Wikipedia also has portals, which organize content around topic areas; our best portals are selected as featured portals. Articles can be found using the search box.

Wikipedia is available in languages other than English. Wikipedia has more than two hundred languages and related projects include a dictionary, quotations, books, manuals, and scientific reference sources, and a news service. All of these are maintained, updated, and managed by separate communities, and often include information and articles that can be hard to find through other common sources.

Basic navigation in Wikipedia

 

Wikipedia articles are all linked, or cross-referenced. When highlighted text like this is seen, it means there is a link to some relevant article or Wikipedia page with further in-depth information elsewhere. Holding the mouse over the link will often show to where the link will lead. The reader is always one click away from more information on any point that has a link attached. There are other links towards the ends of most articles, for other articles of interest, relevant external websites and pages, reference material, and organized categories of knowledge which can be searched and traversed in a loose hierarchy for more information. Some articles may also have links to dictionary definitions, audio-book readings, quotations, the same article in other languages, and further information available on our sister projects. Further links can be added if a relevant link is missing, and this is one way to contribute.

Using Wikipedia as a research tool

 

As wiki documents, articles are never considered complete and may be continually edited and improved. Over time, this generally results in an upward trend of quality and a growing consensus over a neutral representation of information. Users should be aware that not all articles are quality from the start: they may contain false or debatable information. Indeed, many articles start their lives as displaying a single viewpoint, and, after a long process of discussion, debate, and argument, they gradually take on a neutral point of view reached through consensus. Others may, for a while, become caught up in a heavily unbalanced viewpoint which can take some time months perhaps to achieve better balanced coverage of their subject. 

The ideal Wikipedia article is well-written, balanced, neutral, and encyclopedic, containing comprehensive, notable, verifiable knowledge. An increasing number of articles reach this standard over time, and many already have. Our best articles are called Featured Articles (and display a small star in the upper right corner of the article), and our second best tier of articles are designated Good Articles. However, this is a process and can take months or years to be achieved, as each user adds their contribution in turn. Some information will be considered by later contributors to be insufficiently founded and, therefore, may be removed or expunged.

While the overall trend is toward improvement, it is important to use Wikipedia carefully if it is intended to be used as a research source, since individual articles will, by their nature, vary in quality and maturity. Guidelines and information pages are available to help users and researchers do this effectively, as is an article that summarizes third-party studies and assessments of the reliability of Wikipedia.

How Wikipedia Work As a Knowledge-Base System

·        How User Input Document / Image / Video

If some knowledge expert who wants to publish knowledge document about some special area that he studied deeply, he can simply use Wikipedia. For that first he wants to create an account in the Wikipedia and then he can select the category that he is going to publish. Main topic and the sub topic areas are not essential to fill, but if there are any he should. Finally he can store data successfully. Wikipedia has billions of knowledge documents and final document is the knowledge that we can get from it for our usage.

      

How User Retrieve Document / Image / Video

If someone needs to find some knowledge document he can use the same way that he used before. But for that he don’t want to login, reason for that is all the documents are freely available to use. So type the required topic to search will show us available categories under the topic he want to find, then select one. Then several main topic will show us, now he can select one to retrieve data. But if there are more data under sub categories he can select one of them again. Finally he is having the required knowledge document.

KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS 01

Goal :

Try to solve the kinds of difficult problems that normally require human experts by using computer based information system & to construct computer programs that perform at high levels of competence in cognitive tasks.

Definition :

Knowledge based systems are Software that uses artificial intelligent or expert system tools working in a narrow domain to provide intelligent decisions with justification. Knowledge is acquired and represented using various knowledge representation techniques rules, frames and scripts, it focuses on systems that use knowledge-based techniques to support human decision-making, learning and action. It incorporates a store (database) of expert knowledge with couplings and linkage designed to facilitate its retrieval in response to specific queries, or to transfer expertise from one domain of knowledge to another. 

Knowledge-Based Systems 

Knowledge-Based systems are capable of cooperating with human users and so the quality of support given and the manner. Knowledge-based systems are systems based on the methods and techniques of Artificial Intelligence in problem solving processes. Their core components are:

• Knowledge Base                                              
• Acquisition Mechanisms
• Inference Mechanisms

Building, validating, and maintaining a knowledge base is a skill (art) called knowledge engineering. The basic advantages offered by such system are documentation of knowledge, intelligent decision support, self-learning, reasoning and explanation.

Knowledge based system’s Characteristics 

·         Symbolic: It incorporates knowledge that is symbolic (as well as numeric).

·         Heuristic: It reasons with judgmental, imprecise, and qualitative knowledge as well as with formal knowledge of established theories.

·       Transparent: Its knowledge is simply and explicitly represented in terms familiar to specialists, and is separate from its inference procedures. It provides explanations of its line of reasoning and answers to queries about its knowledge.

·      Flexible: It is incrementally refinable and extensible. More details can be specified to refine its performance, more concepts and links among concepts can be specified to broaden its range of applicability.

The Reasoning Mechanism 

·         Takes descriptions from the user about the problem to be solved.

·         Requests additional information from the user as needed.

·         Interprets the knowledge base to make inferences, draw conclusions, and ultimately give advice.

·         Explains its reasoning to the user (how were the conclusions reached?)

Knowledge-Based Systems Limitations

·                               Knowledge-based generation and maintenance are difficult chores.

·                              Knowledge-based systems "know" only the things in the knowledge base.

·                             They do not know how their rules were developed.

·                             They do not know when to break their own rules.

·                             They do not look at problems from different perspectives.

·                            They typically cannot learn from their own experiences.

RFID TECHNOLOGY ( part 2 - pros & cons )

HOW DOES RFID SYSTEM WORKS?

                An RFID system consists of a tag made up of a microchip with an antenna, and an interrogator or reader with an antenna. The reader sends out electromagnetic waves. The tag antenna is tuned to receive these waves. A passive RFID tag draws power from the field created by the reader and uses it to power the microchip's circuits. The chip then modulates the waves that the tag sends back to the reader, which converts the new waves into digital data. For more information on the components of a complete system used in businesses, see Getting Started.

Advantages

Ø  RFID tags are very simple to install/inject inside the body of animals, thus helping to keep a track on them. This is useful in animal husbandry and on poultry farms. The installed RFID tags give information about the age, vaccinations and health of the animals.

Ø  RFID technology is better than bar codes as it cannot be easily replicated and therefore, it increases the security of the product.

Ø  Supply chain management forms the major part of retail business and RFID systems play a key role by managing updates of stocks, transportation and logistics of the product.

Ø  Barcode scanners have repeatedly failed in providing security to gems and jeweleries in shops. But nowadays, RFID tags are placed inside jewelry items and an alarm is installed at the exit doors.

Ø  The RFID tags can store data up to 2 KB whereas, the bar code has the ability to read just 10-12 digits.

Disadvantages

Ø  It is difficult for an RFID reader to read the information in case of RFID tags installed in liquids and metal products. The problem is that the liquid and metal surfaces tend to reflect the radio waves, which makes the tags unreadable. The tags have to be placed in various alignments and angles for taking proper reading. This is a tedious task when the work involves big firms.

Ø  Interference has been observed if devices such as forklifts and walkie-talkies are in the vicinity of the distribution centers. The presence of mobile phone towers has been found to interfere with RFID radio waves. Wal-Mart, the retail sector giant, has installed billions of RFID tags in their products throughout the world and they have encountered such problems.

Ø  The USA and Europe, for instance, have different range of frequencies that allow RFID tags to function. This makes it mandatory for international shipping companies and other organizations to be aware of the working pattern of other nations also, which can be very time-consuming.

Ø  RFID technology has been referred to as invasive technology. Consumers are apprehensive about their privacy when they purchase products with RFID tags. Once the radio chips are installed in the product, the customer can be tracked and his personal information can be collected by the RFID reader. However, many stores have a facility that deactivates the RFID tags after the product has been purchased.

FIRMS WHICH USE RFID

·         Ware house

·         Library system

·         Medical treatments

·         Grocery store

·         Banks

·         Parking system

·         Farms

·         Factories

RFID TECHNOLOGY ( part 1 - origin )

WHAT IS RFID?

                Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can make use of it.

RFID TAGS

There are two types of RFID tags.

Passive tags - RFID tags are thinner than a sheet of paper. Passive RFID tags use the electrical current induced in the antenna by the incoming radio frequency scan. This means that the response of a passive RFID tag is brief.

Active tags - Active RFID tags have their own power source that enables longer range frequency as well as larger memory capacity. This allows it to store additional information. Active RFID tags are used to track high-value goods that need scanning over long ranges.

History of RFID Technology

Radio frequency identification has been around for decades. Learn how it evolved from its roots in World War II radar systems to today's hottest supply chain technology.

It’s generally said that the roots of radio frequency identification technology can be traced back to World War II. The Germans, Japanese, Americans and British were all using radar—which had been discovered in 1935 by Scottish physicist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt—to warn of approaching planes while they were still miles away. The problem was there was no way to identify which planes belonged to the enemy and which were a country’s own pilots returning from a mission.

 Under Watson-Watt, who headed a secret project, the British developed the first active identify friend or foe (IFF) system. They put a transmitter on each British plane. When it received signals from radar stations on the ground, it began broadcasting a signal back that identified the aircraft as friendly. RFID works on this same basic concept. A signal is sent to a transponder, which wakes up and either reflects back a signal (passive system) or broadcasts a signal (active system).

The First RFID Patents 

Mario W. Cardullo claims to have received the first U.S. patent for an active RFID tag with rewritable memory on January 23, 1973. That same year, Charles Walton, a California entrepreneur, received a patent for a passive transponder used to unlock a door without a key. A card with an embedded transponder communicated a signal to a reader near the door. When the reader detected a valid identity number stored within the RFID tag, the reader unlocked the door. Walton licensed the technology to Schlage, a lock maker, and other companies.