The Qualitative Process Engine : A study in Assumption-based Truth Maintenance
Kenneth D. Forbus · 2003
This paper describes how to use an assumption-based truth maintenance system (ATMS) to significantly speed up qualitative reasoning. Specifically, we introduce three organizing abstractions for ATMS-based problem solvers (many-worlds databases, justify/interpret cycles, and closed-world tables). We illustrate their utility by describing the Qualitative Process Engine (qPE), an implementation of Qualitative Process theory that is roughly 95 times-faster and signficantly simpler than the previous implementation. After analyzing gPE's performance, we draw some general conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of assumption-based truth maintenance systems. Program:ENGINEERING