QUAL: A microcomputer system for qualitative simulation

Abstract

The field of qualitative simulation and reasoning is rapidly becoming a sought after means for modeling physical systems. However, much is yet to be explored within this field. The central feature of qualitative modeling is the use of qualitative variable descriptions and logic rules for manipulat ing variable values between systemic states. In this paper, the development and applica tion of a generic qualitative simulation environment named QUAL is provided. This environment assists the user in setting up a qualitative model, executing it, and forming a decision tree of the results. The use of qualitative reasoning in a microcom puter simulation context is presented and used to identify limitations of a purely qualitative modeling environment.