Automating Design Requirement Extraction From Text With Deep Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haluk Akay ◽  
Maria Yang ◽  
Sang-Gook Kim
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Analysis Task ◽  
Text Passage ◽  
Modern Engineering ◽  
Design Documents

Abstract Nearly every artifact of the modern engineering design process is digitally recorded and stored, resulting in an overwhelming amount of raw data detailing past designs. Analyzing this design knowledge and extracting functional information from sets of digital documents is a difficult and time-consuming task for human designers. For the case of textual documentation, poorly written superfluous descriptions filled with jargon are especially challenging for junior designers with less domain expertise to read. If the task of reading documents to extract functional requirements could be automated, designers could actually benefit from the distillation of massive digital repositories of design documentation into valuable information that can inform engineering design. This paper presents a system for automating the extraction of structured functional requirements from textual design documents by applying state of the art Natural Language Processing (NLP) models. A recursive method utilizing Machine Learning-based question-answering is developed to process design texts by initially identifying the highest-level functional requirement, and subsequently extracting additional requirements contained in the text passage. The efficacy of this system is evaluated by comparing the Machine Learning-based results with a study of 75 human designers performing the same design document analysis task on technical texts from the field of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). The prospect of deploying such a system on the sum of all digital engineering documents suggests a future where design failures are less likely to be repeated and past successes may be consistently used to forward innovation.

scholarly journals Math-word embedding in math search and semantic extraction

2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 3017-3046 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Greiner-Petter ◽  
Abdou Youssef ◽  
Terry Ruas ◽  
Bruce R. Miller ◽  
Moritz Schubotz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Word Embedding ◽  
Mathematical Functions ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Math Search

AbstractWord embedding, which represents individual words with semantically fixed-length vectors, has made it possible to successfully apply deep learning to natural language processing tasks such as semantic role-modeling, question answering, and machine translation. As math text consists of natural text, as well as math expressions that similarly exhibit linear correlation and contextual characteristics, word embedding techniques can also be applied to math documents. However, while mathematics is a precise and accurate science, it is usually expressed through imprecise and less accurate descriptions, contributing to the relative dearth of machine learning applications for information retrieval in this domain. Generally, mathematical documents communicate their knowledge with an ambiguous, context-dependent, and non-formal language. Given recent advances in word embedding, it is worthwhile to explore their use and effectiveness in math information retrieval tasks, such as math language processing and semantic knowledge extraction. In this paper, we explore math embedding by testing it on several different scenarios, namely, (1) math-term similarity, (2) analogy, (3) numerical concept-modeling based on the centroid of the keywords that characterize a concept, (4) math search using query expansions, and (5) semantic extraction, i.e., extracting descriptive phrases for math expressions. Due to the lack of benchmarks, our investigations were performed using the arXiv collection of STEM documents and carefully selected illustrations on the Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF: NIST digital library of mathematical functions. Release 1.0.20 of 2018-09-1, 2018). Our results show that math embedding holds much promise for similarity, analogy, and search tasks. However, we also observed the need for more robust math embedding approaches. Moreover, we explore and discuss fundamental issues that we believe thwart the progress in mathematical information retrieval in the direction of machine learning.

Natural language processing and machine learning as practical toolsets for archival processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-174
Author(s):  
Tim Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Entity Recognition ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Archival Processing

Purpose This study aims to provide an overview of recent efforts relating to natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning applied to archival processing, particularly appraisal and sensitivity reviews, and propose functional requirements and workflow considerations for transitioning from experimental to operational use of these tools. Design/methodology/approach The paper has four main sections. 1) A short overview of the NLP and machine learning concepts referenced in the paper. 2) A review of the literature reporting on NLP and machine learning applied to archival processes. 3) An overview and commentary on key existing and developing tools that use NLP or machine learning techniques for archives. 4) This review and analysis will inform a discussion of functional requirements and workflow considerations for NLP and machine learning tools for archival processing. Findings Applications for processing e-mail have received the most attention so far, although most initiatives have been experimental or project based. It now seems feasible to branch out to develop more generalized tools for born-digital, unstructured records. Effective NLP and machine learning tools for archival processing should be usable, interoperable, flexible, iterative and configurable. Originality/value Most implementations of NLP for archives have been experimental or project based. The main exception that has moved into production is ePADD, which includes robust NLP features through its named entity recognition module. This paper takes a broader view, assessing the prospects and possible directions for integrating NLP tools and techniques into archival workflows.

Machine learning for query formulation in question answering

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOF MONZ
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Document Retrieval ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Query Formulation ◽  
Answer Extraction ◽  
Question Answering Systems

AbstractResearch on question answering dates back to the 1960s but has more recently been revisited as part of TREC's evaluation campaigns, where question answering is addressed as a subarea of information retrieval that focuses on specific answers to a user's information need. Whereas document retrieval systems aim to return the documents that are most relevant to a user's query, question answering systems aim to return actual answers to a users question. Despite this difference, question answering systems rely on information retrieval components to identify documents that contain an answer to a user's question. The computationally more expensive answer extraction methods are then applied only to this subset of documents that are likely to contain an answer. As information retrieval methods are used to filter the documents in the collection, the performance of this component is critical as documents that are not retrieved are not analyzed by the answer extraction component. The formulation of queries that are used for retrieving those documents has a strong impact on the effectiveness of the retrieval component. In this paper, we focus on predicting the importance of terms from the original question. We use model tree machine learning techniques in order to assign weights to query terms according to their usefulness for identifying documents that contain an answer. Term weights are learned by inspecting a large number of query formulation variations and their respective accuracy in identifying documents containing an answer. Several linguistic features are used for building the models, including part-of-speech tags, degree of connectivity in the dependency parse tree of the question, and ontological information. All of these features are extracted automatically by using several natural language processing tools. Incorporating the learned weights into a state-of-the-art retrieval system results in statistically significant improvements in identifying answer-bearing documents.

scholarly journals Comparative Study of The Performance of Various Classifiers in Labeling Non-Functional Requirements

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laszlo Toth ◽  
Laszlo Vidacs
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Text Processing ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
System Analyst

Software systems are to be developed based on expectations of customers. These expectations are expressed using natural languages. To design a software meeting the needs of the customer and the stakeholders, the intentions, feedbacks and reviews are to be understood accurately and without ambiguity. These textual inputs often contain inaccuracies, contradictions and are seldom given in a well-structured form. The issues mentioned in the previous thought frequently result in the program not satisfying the expectation of the stakeholders. In particular, for non-functional requirements, clients rarely emphasize these specifications as much as they might be justified. Identifying, classifying and reconciling the requirements is one of the main duty of the System Analyst, which task, without using a proper tool, can be very demanding and time-consuming. Tools which support text processing are expected to improve the accuracy of identification and classification of requirements even in an unstructured set of inputs. System Analysts can use them also in document archeology tasks where many documents, regulations, standards, etc. have to be processed. Methods elaborated in natural language processing and machine learning offer a solid basis, however, their usability and the possibility to improve the performance utilizing the specific knowledge from the domain of the software engineering are to be examined thoroughly. In this paper, we present the results of our work adapting natural language processing and machine learning methods for handling and transforming textual inputs of software development. The major contribution of our work is providing a comparison of the performance and applicability of the state-of-the-art techniques used in natural language processing and machine learning in software engineering. Based on the results of our experiments, tools can be designed which can support System Analysts working on textual inputs.

scholarly journals NELL’s subcategories from a question answering environment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley W. O. Souza ◽  
Diorge Brognara ◽  
João A. Leite ◽  
Estevam R. Hruschka Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Learning Agent ◽  
The Web

With advances in machine learning, natural language processing, processing speed, and amount of data storage, conversational agents are being used in applications that were not possible to perform within a few years. NELL, a machine learning agent who learns to read the web, today has a considerably large ontology and while it can be used for multiple fact queries, it is also possible to expand it further and specialize its knowledge. One of the first steps to succeed is to refine existing knowledge in NELL’s knowledge base so that future communication between it and humans is as natural as possible. This work describes the results of an experiment where we investigate which machine learning algorithm performs best in the task of classifying candidate words to subcategories in the NELL knowledge base.

Question Answering

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaishali Singh ◽  
Sanjay K. Dwivedi
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Pattern Learning ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Fertile Area

With the huge amount of data available on web, it has turned out to be a fertile area for Question Answering (QA) research. Question answering, an instance of information retrieval research is at the cross road from several research communities such as, machine learning, statistical learning, natural language processing and pattern learning. In this paper, the authors survey the research in area of question answering with respect to different prospects of NLP, machine learning, statistical learning and pattern learning. Then they situate some of the prominent QA systems concerning these prospects and present a comparative study on the basis of question types.

scholarly journals Machine–Learning in Optimization of Expensive Black–Box Functions

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoel Tenne
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Design Optimization ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Optimization Process ◽  
Modern Engineering ◽  
Engineering Design Optimization ◽  
Unknown Reason

Abstract Modern engineering design optimization often uses computer simulations to evaluate candidate designs. For some of these designs the simulation can fail for an unknown reason, which in turn may hamper the optimization process. To handle such scenarios more effectively, this study proposes the integration of classifiers, borrowed from the domain of machine learning, into the optimization process. Several implementations of the proposed approach are described. An extensive set of numerical experiments shows that the proposed approach improves search effectiveness.

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