Brief Introduction of My Research


We aim at the construction of intelligent systems that can perform what humans do in fast and correct manners. Our systems have symbolic representations based on computational logic or computational algebra, and reasoning mechanism on these representations.

Research activities in our laboratory cover both theoretical and practical aspects. We are currently studying the following project themes:
  1. Study on qualitative spatial reasoning
    In qualitative spatial reasoning, we represent spatial data such as figure, picture and movie, not numerically using coordinates or size of objects, but symbolically such as relative positional relationships of objects. This approach can be applied to many fields including robot navigation and automatic window placement. We are studying various types of qualitative spatial representations and also their applications. Currently, we are formalizing our qualitative spatial expression using a proof assistant.

  2. Study on argumentation-based system
    Argumentation is a kind of dialogue but has logical grounds. There are wide application areas of argumentation-based systems: supporting a smooth progress of a meeting and negotiation, legal justification and verification in assurance cases. In practical argumentation, we often find phenomena in which attendants' knowledge change, as an argumentation proceeds, which causes generating a new counter-argument. We focus on such a dynamic aspect of an argumentation and formalize a system. Currently, we are investigating a tretment of dishonest argumentation.

  3. Study on system verification techniques
    System verification techniques based on a formal method can greatly improve verification process as which are very important and most costly in the system development. We make a model for a target system, give a specification to be satisfied in a logical or an algebraic form, and verify that the system satisfies the specification using a computational tool. We have applied this technique to electronic money, ships' identification systems, and network protocols.


Last Updated on May 11, 2016. Kazuko TAKAHASHI