This thesis considers three complications that arise from applying reinforcement learning to a real-world application. In the process of using reinforcement learning to build an adaptive electronic market-maker, we find the sparsity of data, the partial observability of the domain,…

This thesis proposes a methodology for the design of man-machine interfaces by combining top-down and bottom-up processes in vision. From a computational perspective, we propose that the scientific-cognitive question of combining top-down and bottom-up knowledge is similar to the engineering…

(cont.) to the verifier., We consider an implementation of a weakened notion of zero-knowledge (weak ZK) where the simulator is also allowed to depend on the distinguisher as well, so this type of ZK entails exhibiting an efficient simulator for…

by Stephen V. Glynn [and] Thomas G. Pelland., Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000., Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-135).

There are many situations in which a very detailed low-level description encodes, through a hierarchical organization, a recognizable higher-order pattern. The macro-molecular structural conformations of proteins exhibit higher order regularities whose recognition is complicated by many factors. ARIADNE searches for…

Many systems have been developed for constructing decision trees from collections of examples. Although the decision trees generated by these methods are accurate and efficient, they often suffer the disadvantage of excessive complexity that can render them incomprehensible to experts.…

Intelligent agents in the physical world must work from incomplete information due to partial knowledge and limited resources. An agent copes with these limitations by applying rules of conjecture to make reasonable assumptions about what is known. Circumscription, proposed by…

Consider a world of 'objects.' Our goal is to place these objects into categories that are useful to the observer using sensory data. One criterion for utility is that the categories allow the observer to infer the object's potential behaviors,…

To determine why something has stopped working, it's helpful to know how it was supposed to work in the first place. This simple fact underlies recent work on a number of systems that do diagnosis from knowledge about the internal…

Currently, Draper Laboratory is in the development stages of a gliding autogyro airdrop system. The goal of the project is to design a platform capable of placing small, high value items into urban terrain. Theoretically, autogyros can achieve descent rates…