A generic strategy for diagnostic assistance: the technician's assistant

A simple and generic strategy for the creation and deployment of diagnostic assistance systems has been developed and implemented in a PC environment. I t is demonstrated that this strategy permits highly effective and usable systems to be assembled and maintained by domain experts and software personnel who need only limited acquaintance with the tools ut i l ized. A specified part i t ioning of the generic diagnostic strategy assists the users in appropriately structuring domain diagnostic knowledge. A fu l l y implemented proof-of-principle system in the analog c i rcu i t diagnosis domain is presented revealing the strategy's mechanisms which permit easy extension and diversi f icat ion of the system's diagnostic and advisory capabil i t ies. The implemented system, called the Neff Instruments Circuit Expert (NICE) Technician's Assistant, can be coupled with automated data gathering equipment or used in a stand-alone capacity to assist repair personnel in the analysis of complex analog amplifiers. Although "deep knowledge" can be represented within the generic strategy, i t is demonstrated that highly effect ive and easily implemented diagnostic advisory systems can be developed without the need for such representations. 1This research was supported, in part, by AFOSR Grant: AFOSR-87-0144. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the AC M copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Association for Comput ing Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and /o r specfic