How the black box method works

The black box is a concept in cybernetics, with the help of which they try to cope with the difficulties in studying complex systems. Presenting a system in the form of a black box means that at the current level of knowledge we cannot penetrate into the depths of this system (or subsystem) and figure out what the internal patterns are that transform its inputs and outputs. However, we can study the behavior of these inputs and outputs, that is, the dependence of changes in output on changes in input. Multiple accounting allows you to discover a pattern between the behavior of inputs and outputs and predict the behavior of the system in the future, and therefore manage it. Although the black box method has predictive value, it does not provide constructive recommendations about what changes are needed in the system in order for it to function better in achieving its goals. Sometimes, if the transformation law is known, the relationship between input and output can be represented in analytical form. Thus, a “black box” is an object that perceives input signals and generates output signals, previously associating them with the input according to some law.

Meanwhile, these ideas absolutely do not correspond to the actual practice of scientific research. The “black box” method, which is directly opposite in its essence to the principle described above, is not just used in the most rigorous scientific disciplines, but is one of the key intellectual tools of cognition.

A “black box” is an intellectual construct into which absolutely unknown, immeasurable, unobservable and in no way recorded phenomena are placed. To understand how the method works, let's give a particular example.

Imagine that a stone is flying along a certain trajectory, and you observe its movement, you know its speed, weight and other characteristics. That is, these are just firmly established facts. Further on his way there is a box with opaque walls. There is a hole on the side where the stone flies, and you are positioned so that you cannot see its further flight inside the box. At the exit there is also a hole from which the stone flies out, and you again see its trajectory and track all its parameters. So, you had an invisible part of the flight, it was absolutely unknown to you. You don’t know what they did with the stone there, whether it was reflected from the walls, whether it bumped into any obstacles, and the like. But there is a visible part before entering the box and a visible part after exiting the box.

So, the “black box” method consists of the fact that the scientist, knowing the visible, measurable characteristics, tries to guess what happened during the invisible part of the flight inside the “black box”. A real scientist begins to build an explanatory model, although from the point of view of the principle mentioned at the beginning of the article, such an approach is unscientific. After all, according to this principle, only the visible part of the stone’s flight can be considered, and what was in the “black box” cannot be discussed at all, there are no firmly established facts, there is nothing to talk about.

People who reason like this and think that this is real science, in fact, do not reason in the way that is really accepted in science.

Meanwhile, no one has seen not only an electron, but even an atom, but people freely talk about atoms, electrons, and the interaction of elementary particles.

Moreover, science gained an important part of this knowledge precisely by using the seemingly unscientific, but in fact exclusively scientific, “black box” method, a method that not only allows one to operate with facts that are not firmly established, but even allows one to conduct research into phenomena that are completely unknown, unestablished, whose parameters are not directly fixed.

That is, science recognizes and even proclaims as an important principle the very possibility of studying unknown phenomena using indirect signs, other facts, other phenomena.

Developmental program “Black Box”

Research (creative) work in Chelyabinsk

youth intellectual forum “Step into the future - Constellation - HTTM”

(Section 3.3 (3D) Software in education; computer intellectual developments in the competition of intellectuals “Talents of Developed Memory and Logic” (TRPL))

Sitnikova Lyubov Yurievna,

Chelyabinsk, MAOU Secondary School No. 153, 11th grade

Scientific adviser:

Rogov Andrey Yurievich,

IT-teacher,

MAOU secondary school No. 153

Chelyabinsk – 2011

Introduction

Modeling is one of the research methods actively used by humanity. Many objects can be studied only using this method. We asked ourselves, “What can we simulate with a computer?” By itself, the computer is a fairly rich tool for modeling. It’s not for nothing that there is a whole branch of science called “Computer Modeling”. Naturally, it is simply impossible to reflect all the capabilities of a computer in a model. But one of them is a completely feasible task. In the school computer science course there is a section “Modeling”, within which the “Black Box” model is studied.

A black box is a system in which only input and output quantities are available to an external observer, and the structure and internal processes are unknown.

Examples of a “black box” are any household appliance (TV, radio, gas stove, iron, etc.), a wind-up toy, a wristwatch, a car. It will not be an exaggeration to say that any thing, any object, any phenomenon - any knowable object - always initially appears as a “black box”.

As already mentioned, a “black box” is a system about the structure of which we know nothing. How can it be discussed, studied, explored? The “black box” represents the system from only one side: the relationship, the connection between “input” and “output”.

Each system is examined by gradually producing a long protocol, compiled in chronological order and showing the sequence of “input” and “output” states. As a result of such a protocol, we know which “inputs” the experimenter manipulates and what happens at the “output”. By gradually expanding the “input-output” circle, the experimenter learns the behavior of his “ward”. And as he gets acquainted with his behavior, he tries to reveal the internal connections in the “black box”, its structure.

If you imagine the black box model as a diagram, it will look something like this:

Such a system is quite easy to model. Therefore, the goal of the work was to use the capabilities of the computer to create a program that develops the user’s intellectual abilities.

The objectives of the work are:

Collection of information about the “black box” modeling method, the possibility of implementation on a computer.

Selection of the required number of algorithms, their presentation using the Pascal programming language.

Creating an interactive program using the application development environment for Windows - Lazarus.

Determining possible areas of application of the program, using it in one of the selected areas.

Theoretical part

Algorithms and software used to develop the program

When collecting information about the “black box” modeling method, the possibility of implementation on a computer, school computer science textbooks and Internet materials provided us with great help. The selection of algorithms was carried out based on the restrictions on their programming. Two types of information were used as input and output data: textual and numerical. A total of 16 algorithms were selected, distributed as follows:

Simple:

1. +1

2. -3

3. *2

4. Sum of digits of a number

5. Recording in reverse order

6. Last character

7. First character

8. Number of characters

Difficult:

1. *2+1

2. X 2 +1

3. 12/X

4. Product of digits of a number

5. Number of vowels

6. Number of consonants

7. If even, then +2, if odd, then +1

8. Number of characters -1

To implement the project, an object-oriented programming environment was required. Pascal was chosen as the main programming language, since it was studied earlier in the school computer science course. Two programs were considered: BorlandDelphi and Lazarus. The first one is widespread, but, unfortunately, is not freely distributed. But Lazarus, on the contrary, although it has less rich functionality, can be freely used for any purpose. Therefore, the choice settled on him.

Research part

Working with the Black Box program

The first window that appears when you start the program is the choice of difficulty level. To begin with, it’s a good idea to practice on an easy difficulty level. Completing tasks here requires no more than one action. At the complex level, algorithms contain two actions and are more complex to calculate.

The main working window of the program is the same for both difficulty levels. It contains the following main elements:

1. The main menu of the program with the “File” and “Help” items;
2. Drop-down list with the ability to select the algorithm number;
3. The main working panel: a field for entering an input parameter, a “Process” button and a field where the result of the algorithm is displayed;
4. A window that displays the progress of the study, indicating all inputs and outputs;
5. “Exam” button;
6. “Exit program” button.

The program has the following operating principle. It contains algorithms, the program uses them to process all the data entered by the user, whose task is to determine which algorithm the program uses.

Working with the program is carried out in the following order:

In the main program window, select the desired algorithm number from the drop-down list. Each algorithm has its own number, which does not change from run to run.

Determine what data the algorithm works with (numbers or text). It should be taken into account that numbers can also be represented as a sequence of characters. To check, you can try entering both text and a number in the “Input” field (Please note that the program only works correctly with letters of the English alphabet. And the algorithms are configured to work with this particular alphabet). After clicking on the “Process” button, the value obtained as a result of executing the algorithm on the input parameter will appear in the “Result” field. In this case, both the input and the result are entered into the table on the right, where all actions performed by the user will be displayed.

Determine which algorithm the program performs. To do this, you need to enter data and process it until the pattern becomes sufficiently substantiated. After this, you can begin the exam.

Clicking on the exam button allows you to go to the section of the program that checks the correctness of the algorithm guessed by the user.

In this section, you are asked to apply the resulting algorithm to the five input data listed on the left. You must enter the results in the appropriate fields on the right. Exactly one minute is allotted to complete the actions, after which the entered answers will be checked and the result will be displayed. If you have finished performing the actions earlier, you can click on the “OK” button.

Depending on the result obtained, you can either move on to the next algorithm, or, if the current algorithm has not been determined, try other input parameters.

The tasks given in the exam are different every time. Thus, the possibility of calculating answers in the main program window is excluded. The need to introduce the exam is caused by the fact that it is quite difficult to verify the correctness of the user’s assumption in any other way due to the loose formulation of some algorithms.

The main program window contains help information, which can be found by selecting “Help” from the main menu of the program.

Conclusion

Several applications can be found for the created product, for example, use in computer science lessons to study the topic “Modeling”, development of the logical abilities of primary and secondary school students, holding competitions between students, and, finally, anyone can use this program at home at their convenience time for him. http://www.delphisources.ru

A black box can transform information according to some rule.

As a result of studying the operation of the “black box”, a list of corresponding parameter values ​​at the input and output was obtained.

Determine what the system does by analyzing the results of its operation, i.e. on what principle are the values ​​of input parameters related to output parameters. Represent this relationship as a function.

Example 1

What will the black box answer if you give it the number 12?

Answer: the system doubles the value of the input parameter; y = 2x.

The rule can be more complex.

Example 2

What will the black box answer if you give it the number 9?

Answer: The system squares the value of the input parameter and then rearranges the digits of the number in reverse order.

List of some of the most famous "Black Boxes":

• Using a number, the remainder is calculated when it is divided by a given number.
• Sum of digits of a number.
• Any formula: square of a number, number plus three, etc. ...
• You can add the move number to the number.
• Three is three, two is three, one is four, (a number is how many letters are in its notation).
• The number of the first letter "a" in the word: i.e. bomb - 5, 2 - 3, banana - 2, 1 - I can’t (in this case you can also say 0)

Problems to solve independently

A certain “black box” can be configured with ten information conversion programs. As a result of studying its operation, test reports were obtained that describe the inputs and corresponding outputs of the system. It is necessary to determine the type of input information (numeric, text, symbolic) and the rule for its transformation.

Theoretical round of the school stage

in computer science and ICT

2015-2016 academic year

5-6-7 grades

1. 1. (5 points) Find the pattern and continue the series:
   1. 1) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,…
   2. 2) a, b, c, d, d, f, ...
   3. 3) 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,…
   4. 4) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 0, 1, 1,…
   5. 5) o, d, t, h, p, w,…
2. 2. (24 points) Insert a three-letter word instead of dots, which will be the end of one word and the beginning of another.

Example:U(…)ESO – U(KOL)ESO.

1. 3. (10 points) Write a word in brackets on the left so that these equations can be solved.

B+(ANIMAL)=(DEFECT)
AP+(NOTE)=(MUSICAL INSTRUMENT)
B+(NAME)=(FREEDOM)
H+(TREE)=(FIELD)
AND+(CEREAL)=(FLOWER)
PA+(CHAIR)=(BULLET IN CASE)
B+(FACIAL HAIR)=DECORATION
C+(FLOWER)=(PLEASANT TASTE SENSATION)
W+(NAIL PAINT)=(PLANT WITH SPEAKS)
U+(ATMOSPHERE PHENOMENON)=(INTIMIDATION)

1. 4. (6 points) Scraps of notes are hidden in this table

• Hare (A2, G6, G1, A6, B3, B1, G4, B4);
• Wolf (A3, G2, B3, G5, B2, B6, B2, B6);
• and notes for you (B5, A1, G3, A4, B1).

Restore these notes (don't forget to divide the text into words).

1. 5. (5 points) Using the code, find the words that are hidden behind these numbers:
2. 1) 6 8 7 4 10 8

1. 2) 1 2 10 8 9 1 5 5CIPHER
2. 3) 7 1 2 4 3 1 10 8 9
3. 4) 1 9 4 11
4. 5) 1 5 5 4 3 1 10 8 9

6. (5 points) Define the proverb. Dial - key:

1. 7. (5 points) Determine the principle of information transformation in a “black box”.

1. (20 points) Robot. Roger Wilco wants to get the key from a labyrinth that he cannot get into himself, but he can send a small robot into it. The robot knows the commands:

• Up(move one cell up)
• Down(move one cell down)
• Left(move one cell to the left)
• Right(move one cell to the right)

A command that the robot cannot execute, it simply skips and moves on to the next one. The robot has a limited amount of memory, so Roger can only write a program with four instructions. When the robot reaches the end of its program, it starts it again. When the robot finds itself in the cell where the key is located, the program execution ends immediately.

How can Roger program the robot to get out of the cage?S in a cage F where is the key?

2. (20 points) Aquarius. There are two empty vessels with a volume of 8 and 5 liters. Using the Aquarius software environment, create a program for obtaining 4 liters of water in any of the vessels.