Unit quaternion is an ideal parameterization for joint rotations. However, due to the complexity of the geometry of S group, it’s hard to specify meaningful joint constraints with unit quaternion. In this paper, we have proposed an effective and accurate method to specify the rotation limits for joints parameterized with the unit quaternion. Joint constrains constructed with our method are adeq...

This paper considers the problem of scheduling hybrid flowshops with machine availability constraints (MAC) to minimize makespan. The paper deals with a specific case of MAC caused by preventive maintenance (PM) operations. Contrary to previous papers considering fixed or/and conservative policies, we explore a case in which PM activities might be postponed or expedited while necessary. Regardi...

FLEXX-PHARM, an extended version of the flexible docking tool FLEXX, allows the incorporation of information about important characteristics of protein-ligand binding modes into a docking calculation. This information is introduced as a simple set of constraints derived from receptor-based type pharmacophore features. The constraints are determined by selected FLEXX interactions and inclusion v...

Constraint-based mining is an active field of research which is a key point to get interactive and successful KDD processes. Nevertheless, usual solvers are limited to particular kinds of constraints because they rely on properties to prune the search space which are incompatible together. In this paper, we provide a general framework dedicated to a large set of constraints described by SQL-lik...

The notion of constraint is basic in operations research and artificial intelligence. A constraint describes what are the potentially acceptable decisions (the solutions to a problem) and what are the absolutely unacceptable ones: it is an all-or-nothing matter. Moreover, no constraint can be violated, i.e., a constraint is classically considered as imperative. Especially the violation of a con...

In an earlier paper [1] we have proposed a shape representation called the CLD (Chord Length Distribution) which possesses many of the often-quoted desirable properties of a shape representation. It also captures shape variability and complements an object location method using belief updating which integrates low-level evidence and shape constraints. Promising results on synthetic and real rig...