INTELLIGENT DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR DIAGNOSIS AND MAINTENANCE OF AUTOMATED SYSTEMS

ROBODOC, the diagnosis and maintenance consultant, is an off-line deci sion support utility that will help maintenance staff diagnose and cor rect robotic failures. It uses a group technology approach to classify symptoms and a decision tree approach in developing the system. It ha s the capability to produce both detailed as well as shallow reports o f problems and their fixes. Its modularity makes it easier to add or r evise the knowledge base or to transfer the diagnostic knowledge from one automated system to another, without necessitating complete develo pment from scratch. The results of this work can contribute to the dev elopment of a design for a service expert system, which will be able t o give design recommendations based on past experiences, which will pr oduce more durable and easier to maintain equipment designs.