Summary: Monotonic Influence Diagrams: Application to
Optimal and Robust Design
Copyright ©1991
by
Nestor Fernando Michelena
Monotonic Influence Diagrams: Application to
Optimal and Robust Design
by
Nestor Fernando Michelena
Abstract
In this dissertation monotonic influence diagrams (MID's) are proposed for qualitative and
mathematical functional reasoning about the relationships between the variables of a
design problem. Monotonic influence diagrams are a synthesis of influence diagrams and
monotonicity analysis. The theory of MID's is based on a graph­theoretic representation
of an optimization problem which can be topologically transformed as a means of solving
the problem and exploring variable­goal­constraint relationships.
Formally, a monotonic influence diagram is a directed graph consisting of nodes and arcs.
The nodes represent design variables and the arcs reveal their relationships. Nodes in a
MID can represent either deterministic or uncertain quantities. An arc in a MID is associ-
ated with the qualitative relation between the corresponding variables. A deterministic

Source: Agogino, Alice M. - Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley

Collections: Engineering