We are planning to organize a workshop and a book in 1994 about the
theme: "Object-oriented modeling of nature, natural resources, and
associated problem solving".
I would like to get some feedback of how many people actually are working
with projects that would be covered by the workshop. For starters,
in Finland there are projects about:
- modeling the structure and functioning of trees
- forest insect and disease recognition
- modeling of development of plantations
- timber transport scheduling
- modeling moose behavior
- architectures to support object-oriented construction of expert systems
and decision support systems.
I know a few others around the world. If you have a similar project
ongoing, planned, or completed, please post a short description to the
forest-list. I'd also welcome all comments directly to me.
Hannu Saarenmaa
Forestry Canada, Petawawa National Forestry Institute
Chalk River, Ontario, Canada K0J 1J0
tel 613-589-2880 hsaarenmaa@pnfi.forestry.ca
(my address till next fall)
PS. For those who do not know,
{
object-oriented programming has been a hot topic in software
engineering for some years. From its origin in artificial
intelligence community, it has grown into the leading method
for constructing complex software systems. Today, virtually
all complex applications such as the various window systems in
computers are based on it.
Lately, research has shed light on the more scientific issues
beyond programming. Object-oriented design and analysis have
emerged. Together, these are called object-oriented modeling
(OOM).
OOM incorporates many rigid tools for analysis of complex
systems. The power of OOM lies in representing the domain with
concrete objects that have as much similarity with their real
world counterparts as possible. Also abstract things such as
plans, tasks, and actions can be represented with OOM.
Many research groups are now building object models and
associated applications for natural things such as trees,
insects, animals, and disease. Already for some time, planning
and scheduling of vehicle routing has been a domain where
object-oriented methodologies are popular.
Suggested reading:
Rumbaugh, J. & al. 1991. Object-oriented modeling and design.
Prentice Hall.
Shlaer, S. & Mellor, S.J. 1988. Object-oriented systems
analysis: modeling the world in data. Yourdon Press.
}
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