Diagnostic reasoning based on means-end models: experiences and future prospects

Multilevel Flow Models (MFM) are graphical models of goals and functions of technical systems. MFM was invented by Morten Lind at the Technical University of Denmark and several new algorithms and implementations have been contributed by the group headed by Jan Eric Larsson at Lund Institute of Technology. MFM provides a good basis for computerbased supervision and diagnosis, especially in real -time applications, were fast execution and guaranteed worstcase response times are essential. The expressive power of MFM is similar to that of rule-based expert systems, while the explicit representation of means-end knowledge and the graphical nature of the models make the knowledge engineering effort less and the execution efficiency higher than that of standard expert systems. The resulting models can be used for different diagnostic tasks, such as fault diagn osis, causal explanations, and qualitative predictions. MFM has several properties which makes for a relatively easy knowledge engi...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: KBS
• Authors: Jan Eric Larsson
• Keywords: Expert Systems, KBS 2002, Multilevel Flow Models, Standard Expert Systems