Progress on a Computer Based Consultant

Abstract

Computer based consultants are systems that incorporate specialized bodies of knowledge and make this knowledge conveniently available to users who are not computer experts. This paper summarizes initial progress on a computer based consultant project aimed at helping a novice mechanic work with electromechanical equipment. We describe some properties and abilities of consultants, and present results to date on the problem-solving, vision, and natural language components of our evolving system.