Expert systems at the navy center for applied research in artificial intelligence

摘要

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC, began operation in 1923 in response to a suggestion by Thomas Alva Edison that “The government should maintain a great research laboratory … In this could be developed … all the techniques of military and naval progression without any great expense”. NRL initially contained two research divisions: radio and sound. It now consists of 15 research divisions encompassing a very wide range of technical specialties. One of NRL's newest research groups is the Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI), where significant effort is being made to transition artificial intelligence technology out of the laboratory and into service. Many of the research projects conducted by NCARAI are producing expert systems technology directed at broad problems within the Navy. Several of these systems are now mature and the efforts made in selecting problem domains, development, packaging, and distribution may provide useful insights for others.