Constructionist Design Methodology (CDM)¶
Kris Thorisson, and numerous others. CDM has been shaped through use in a number of real projects
Constructionist Design Methodology (CDM) provides a set of high-level principles for guiding development of complex A.I. systems made of heterogeneous components.
More specifically, CDM helps with:
Construction of large, integrated systems, with a special focus on practical systems, integrating broad functionalities including:- vision, hearing and touch
- natural communication
- humanoid animation / robotic control
- real-world "cogitation" (navigation, object recognition, reasoning)
- Building and testing of mental functionalities in context (to study complex mechanisms they need to be embedded in a larger model with more breadth, to contextualize their operation)
- Making systems with real-time, interactive components
- Integration between systems developed by different people, in different places at different times
Building on a long tradition of modularization and solid software engineering principles, CDM is inspired in part by the principles behind the Smalltalk programming language. It follows well-tested traditions including the use of publish-subscribe mechanisms, scheduling blackboards and independent, communicating modules. The principles of the approach are at present fairly high-level; with time they will evolve to include specific support for various fields within A.I.