CS 343: Expert Systems

Due: December 7, 2007.

The goals of this assignment are to get some experience with expert systems and writing of rules for expert systems.

  1. Run the Snakes example using the TMYCIN expert system tool. After starting gcl, enter the following:
    (load "/projects/cs343/tmycin/tmycin.lsp")
    (load "/projects/cs343/tmycin/snakes.lsp")
    (doconsult)
    

    It is not necessary to answer all questions; some questions might be answered by unk (unknown).

    After running the consultation, try some why and whynot questions, e.g.,

    (why poisonous yes)
    
    (whynot bullsnake)
    

  2. Write a small expert system of about 20-30 rules to perform some finite classification task. Choose a task for which you have the expert knowledge or for which you can find a good source, such as a field manual. Use TMYCIN as the expert system tool. The file snakes.lsp can be used as an example. A manual for TMYCIN is available on the web at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/novak/tmycin.html

Grading Criteria:

Given the short time available for this assignment, only a modest expert system is expected. A good expert system is effective in performing accurate classification using data that can be observed by a non-expert user. Good expert systems may have multiple ways to reach a conclusion, so that they can tolerate uncertain or missing data.