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REPORT FOR APRIL-JUNE 2006
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TECHNICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

() Improved the scheduling algorithm and included a new caching
mechanism, which has led to a significant increase in the scheduling
speed; this increase is in addition to the speed increase reported in
the previous quarter. Also, replaced approximate probabilistic
computations in the scheduler with exact handling of probability
distributions.

() Revamped the representation of conference events; in particular,
made this representation more intuitive and removed the need for its
external pre-processing. Space-Time Module can now accept simple
intuitive properties of events (such as the expected number of
attendees) instead of the related objective functions (such as the
dependency of the quality of the selected time slot on the room size).

() Implemented a library of common-sense assumptions about available
resources, and added it to the earlier mechanism for common-sense
assumptions.

() Began work on the algorithms for optimizing the use of movable
equipment and services. Also, began work on the "contingency
scheduling" system, which will allow construction of alternative
schedules for multiple world models.


IMPROVEMENTS TO PROTOTYPE

() Completed the work on the new API for accessing the world model of
Space-Time Module from other parts of the Radar architecture, and
integrated Space-Time GUI with this new API.

() Began work on the procedure for automatic conversion of the "GBCF"
representation of the world model, used by IET, into the representation
used by Space-Time Module.


OBJECTIVES FOR NEXT PERIOD

() Complete the work on the algorithms for optimizing the use of
movable equipment and services.

() Continue the work on the mechanism for learning of elicitation
strategies and "common-sense" assumptions. Also, continue work on the
"contingency scheduling" system.

() Complete the work on the conversion of the GBCF world model into
the Space-Time representation. Also, develop a procedure for loading
the Space-Time world model from the "central" database, developed by
the WbE group.


PUBLICATIONS

Published four conference papers:

() Ulas Bardak, Eugene Fink, and Jaime G. Carbonell. Scheduling with
uncertain resources: Representation and utility function. In
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics, 2006.

() Eugene Fink, P. Matthew Jennings, Ulas Bardak, Jean Oh, Stephen
F. Smith, and Jaime G. Carbonell. Scheduling with uncertain resources:
Search for a near-optimal solution. In Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 2006.

() Eugene Fink, Ulas Bardak, Brandon Rothrock, and Jaime G. Carbonell.
Scheduling with uncertain resources: Collaboration with the user. In
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics, 2006.

() Ulas Bardak, Eugene Fink, Chris R. Martens, and Jaime G. Carbonell.
Scheduling with uncertain resources: Elicitation of additional data.
In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man,
and Cybernetics, 2006.


PRESENTATIONS

Eugene Fink gave an invited talk on the Radar/Space-Time work at the
University of South Florida, and an internal talk during the Year-3
Kick-Off meeting:

() Scheduling with uncertain resources. Invited talk in the Department
of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South
Florida, May 30, 2006.

() Radar/Space-Time: Crisis allocation of resources. Internal talk at
Carnegie Mellon University during the Year-3 Kick-Off, June 29, 2006.