The BOXES Methodology Second Edition


Book Description

This book focuses on how the BOXES Methodology, which is based on the work of Donald Michie, is applied to ill-defined real-time control systems with minimal a priori knowledge of the system. The method is applied to a variety of systems including the familiar pole and cart. This second edition includes a new section that covers some further observations and thoughts, problems, and evolutionary extensions that the reader will find useful in their own implementation of the method. This second edition includes a new section on how to handle jittering about a system boundary which in turn causes replicated run times to become part of the learning mechanism. It also addresses the aging of data values using a forgetfulness factor that causes wrong values of merit to be calculated. Another question that is addressed is “Should a BOXES cell ever be considered fully trained and, if so, excluded from further dynamic updates”. Finally, it expands on how system boundaries may be shifted using data from many runs using an evolutionary paradigm.




Inside the Box


Book Description

“The ‘inside-the-box approach’ can reveal key opportunities for innovation that are hiding in plain sight” (Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive). The traditional attitude toward creativity in the American business world is to “think outside the box”—to brainstorm without restraint in hopes of coming up with a breakthrough idea, often in moments of crisis. Sometimes it works, but it’s a problem-specific solution that does nothing to engender creative thinking more generally. Inside the Box demonstrates Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT), which systemizes creativity as part of the corporate culture. This counterintuitive and powerfully effective approach to creativity requires thinking inside the box, working in one’s familiar world to create new ideas independent of specific problems. SIT’s techniques and principles have instilled creative thinking into such companies as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and other industry leaders. Inside the Box shows how corporations have successfully used SIT in business settings as diverse as medicine, technology, new product development, and food packaging. Dozens of books discuss how to make creative thinking part of a corporate culture, but none takes the innovative and unconventional approach of Inside the Box. With “inside the box” thinking, companies of any size can become sufficiently creative to solve problems even before they develop and to innovate on an ongoing basis. It’s a system that works! “Boyd and Goldenberg explain the basic building blocks for creativity and by doing so help all of us better express our potential” (Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational).




Improving Almost Anything


Book Description

Masterworks in process improvement and quality technology— by George Box and friends George Box has a unique ability to explain complex ideas simply and eloquently. This revised edition of his masterworks since 1982 clearly demonstrates the range of his wit and intellect. These fascinating readings represent the cornerstones in the theory and application of process improvement, product design, and process control. Readers will gain valuable insights into the fundamentals and philosophy of scientific method using statistics and how it can drive creativity and discovery. The book is divided into five key parts: Part A, Some Thoughts on Quality Improvement, concerns the democratization of the scientific method and, in such papers as "When Murphy Speaks—Listen," advises managers to view operation of their processes as ongoing opportunities for improvement. Part B, Design of Experiments for Process Improvement, illustrates the enormous advantages offered by experimental design in the pursuit of better products and processes. Part C, Sequential Investigation and Discovery, shows how sequential assembly of designs allows the experimenter to match the difficulty of the problem with the effort needed to solve it. Part D, Control, describes application of feedback control in the Statistical Process Control (SPC) environment. A simple graphical technique using Box-Jenkins charts is set forth to appropriately adjust processes to target. Part E, Variance Reduction and Robustness, demonstrates how the existence of more than one source of variation may be used to achieve products robust to the environment in which they must function and emphasizes the importance of error transmission and data transformation in producing robust assemblies. A Foreword by Dr. J. Stuart Hunter allows readers to gain insight into the workings of a remarkable mind and explains how these ideas can greatly catalyze their efforts in process improvement.




Interpretable Machine Learning


Book Description

This book is about making machine learning models and their decisions interpretable. After exploring the concepts of interpretability, you will learn about simple, interpretable models such as decision trees, decision rules and linear regression. Later chapters focus on general model-agnostic methods for interpreting black box models like feature importance and accumulated local effects and explaining individual predictions with Shapley values and LIME. All interpretation methods are explained in depth and discussed critically. How do they work under the hood? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can their outputs be interpreted? This book will enable you to select and correctly apply the interpretation method that is most suitable for your machine learning project.




Research Methodology: Concepts and Cases, 2nd Edition


Book Description

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CONCEPT AND CASES provides a comprehensive and stepwise understanding of the research process with a balanced blend of theory, techniques and Indian illustrations from a wide cross-section of business areas. This book makes no presumptions and can be used with confidence and conviction by both students and experienced managers who need to make business sense of the data and information that is culled out through research groups. The conceptual base has been provided in comprehensive, yet simplistic detail, addressing even the minutest explanations required by the reader. The language maintains a careful balance between technical know-how and business jargon. Every chapter is profusely illustrated with business problems related to all domains—marketing, finance, human resource and operations. Thus, no matter what the interest area may be, the universal and adaptable nature of the research process is concisely demonstrated.




Book Art Studio Handbook


Book Description

DIVHow to Make Books, Albums, Slipcases, and More /divDIVThere’s nothing like making your own sketchbook, or wrapping a favorite book in the perfect homemade slipcase. And you can create it all yourself! Select the tools and materials you’ll need, master basic book-binding techniques, and practice your new skills on 12 eye-catching projects. Then explore the gallery of variations for more inspiration to make each book form your own. Whether you’re an experienced book binder or new to the art,Book Art Studio Handbookwill help you take your books to the next level./divDIV/divDIVWithBook Art Studio Handbook, you’ll learn how to:/divDIV/divDIV-Set up your workspace or studio/divDIV-Choose the right board, paper, book cloth, and other supplies for your project/divDIV-Fold a textblock, make a sewing template, glue a cover, and practice other essential techniques/divDIV-Create albums: Imagine your photos in an Accordion Album with Frames, for example/divDIV- Create books: How about a flexible Tacketed Book to customize?/divDIV-Create enclosures: From Slipcase to French Box/divDIV-Challenge yourself: Try your hand at an advanced project, such as a Travel Journal/div




Response Surface Methodology


Book Description

Praise for the Second Edition: "This book [is for] anyone who would like a good, solid understanding of response surface methodology. The book is easy to read, easy to understand, and very applicable. The examples are excellent and facilitate learning of the concepts and methods." —Journal of Quality Technology Complete with updates that capture the important advances in the field of experimental design, Response Surface Methodology, Third Edition successfully provides a basic foundation for understanding and implementing response surface methodology (RSM) in modern applications. The book continues to outline the essential statistical experimental design fundamentals, regression modeling techniques, and elementary optimization methods that are needed to fit a response surface model from experimental data. With its wealth of new examples and use of the most up-to-date software packages, this book serves as a complete and modern introduction to RSM and its uses across scientific and industrial research. This new edition maintains its accessible approach to RSM, with coverage of classical and modern response surface designs. Numerous new developments in RSM are also treated in full, including optimal designs for RSM, robust design, methods for design evaluation, and experiments with restrictions on randomization as well as the expanded integration of these concepts into computer software. Additional features of the Third Edition include: Inclusion of split-plot designs in discussion of two-level factorial designs, two-level fractional factorial designs, steepest ascent, and second-order models A new section on the Hoke design for second-order response surfaces New material on experiments with computer models Updated optimization techniques useful in RSM, including multiple responses Thorough treatment of presented examples and experiments using JMP 7, Design-Expert Version 7, and SAS software packages Revised and new exercises at the end of each chapter An extensive references section, directing the reader to the most current RSM research Assuming only a fundamental background in statistical models and matrix algebra, Response Surface Methodology, Third Edition is an ideal book for statistics, engineering, and physical sciences courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable reference for applied statisticians and practicing engineers.




Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, First Edition


Book Description

This lively, practical text presents a fresh and comprehensive approach to doing qualitative research. The book offers a unique balance of theory and clear-cut choices for customizing every phase of a qualitative study. A scholarly mix of classic and contemporary studies from multiple disciplines provides compelling, field-based examples of the full range of qualitative approaches. Readers learn about adaptive ways of designing studies, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. Key aspects of the researcher's craft are addressed, such as fieldwork options, the five phases of data analysis (with and without using computer-based software), and how to incorporate the researcher's “declarative” and “reflective” selves into a final report. Ideal for graduate-level courses, the text includes:* Discussions of ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, feminist research, and other approaches.* Instructions for creating a study bank to get a new study started.* End-of-chapter exercises and a semester-long, field-based project.* Quick study boxes, research vignettes, sample studies, and a glossary.* Previews for sections within chapters, and chapter recaps.* Discussion of the place of qualitative research among other social science methods, including mixed methods research.




The BOXES Methodology


Book Description

Robust control mechanisms customarily require knowledge of the system’s describing equations which may be of the high order differential type. In order to produce these equations, mathematical models can often be derived and correlated with measured dynamic behavior. There are two flaws in this approach one is the level of inexactness introduced by linearizations and the other when no model is apparent. Several years ago a new genre of control systems came to light that are much less dependent on differential models such as fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms. Both of these soft computing solutions require quite considerable a priori system knowledge to create a control scheme and sometimes complicated training program before they can be implemented in a real world dynamic system. Michie and Chambers’ BOXES methodology created a black box system that was designed to control a mechanically unstable system with very little a priori system knowledge, linearization or approximation. All the method needed was some notion of maximum and minimum values for the state variables and a set of boundaries that divided each variable into an integer state number. The BOXES Methodology applies the method to a variety of systems including continuous and chaotic dynamic systems, and discusses how it may be possible to create a generic control method that is self organizing and adaptive that learns with the assistance of near neighbouring states. The BOXES Methodology introduces students at the undergraduate and master’s level to black box dynamic system control , and gives lecturers access to background materials that can be used in their courses in support of student research and classroom presentations in novel control systems and real-time applications of artificial intelligence. Designers are provided with a novel method of optimization and controller design when the equations of a system are difficult or unknown. Researchers interested in artificial intelligence (AI) research and models of the brain and practitioners from other areas of biology and technology are given an insight into how AI software can be written and adapted to operate in real-time.




Hal Leonard Bass Method Book 2


Book Description

(Bass Method). The Hal Leonard Bass Method is designed for anyone just learning to play electric bass. It is based on years of teaching bass students of all ages and it also reflects some of the best bass teaching ideas from around the world. Book 2 teaches: the box shape; moveable boxes; notes in fifth position; major and minor scales; the classic blues line; the shuffle rhythm; tablature; and more!