Measurement Interpretation in Qualitative Process Theory

Interpreting measurements of physical systems consists in part of constructing an account of "what's happening" in terms of our commonsense physical theories. Since most systems involve change, qualitative dynamics plays a central role in such deductions. This paper presents a theory of measurement interpretation at an instant, based on Qualitative Process Theory. Appropriate notions of measurement and interpretation are defined and the computational issues involved in constructing interpretations are examined. After describing an algorithm and illustrating its use by example, possible extensions to interpreting measurements over time will be discussed.