Symbolic sensors : one solution to the numerical-symbolic interface

Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of symbolic sensor as an extension of the smart sensor one. Then, the links between the physical world and the symbolic one are introduced. The creation of symbols is proposed within the frame of the pretopology theory. In order to adapt the sensor to the measurement context, a learning process has been used to provide an adaptive interpretation of the measurement. Finally, an example is presented in the case of a temperature measurement.