Design optimization is an important engineering design activity. Performing design optimization in the presence of uncertainty has been an active area of research. The approaches used require modeling the random variables using precise probability distributions or representing uncertain quantities as fuzzy sets. This work, however, considers problems in which the random variables are described ...

We investigate the problem of planning under uncertainty, with application to mobile robotics. We propose a probabilistic framework in which the robot bases its decisions on the generalized belief, which is a probabilistic description of its own state and of external variables of interest. The approach naturally leads to a dual-layer architecture: an inner estimation layer, which performs infer...

This paper addresses the analysis of uncertainty in the output of computer models arising from uncertainty in inputs (parameters). Uncertainty of this type, which is separate and distinct from the randomness of a stochastic model, most often arises when proper input values are imprecisely known. Uncertainty in the output is quantified in its probability distribution, which results from treating...

In many systems, randomness and uncertainty are present simultaneously. Uncertain random variables provide a tool to deal with these inexact phenomena. This paper proposes a concept of risk index to quantify the risk of an uncertain random system. In addition, a risk index theorem is proved in order to calculate the risk index, and is applied to series systems, parallel systems and standby syst...