Semantic Integration of Multiple Information Resources in Product Development: Managing Internal and External Heterogeneity

该奖项的研究目标是创建一个基于本体表示的软件框架，以促进各种产品开发软件系统之间的数据交换。实现基于本体的互操作性的方法的开发确保了产品数据的语义被保留，并在必要时被翻译。主要的重点是确定不同产品开发软件中概念之间的映射，同时解决外部异构性(系统间的差异)、内部异构性(产品数据的异质组件)和不确定性(一对多映射)的问题。将使用W3C标准、OWL和SWRL开发本体来表示基于知识的输入，例如功能、装配和公差。信息论中的概念将与概率方法相结合，以使用可用数据来确定语义相似性。基于模糊集的方法将被用于确定不能使用清晰的概率方法进行比较的概念的语义相似性。我们将开发一个语义互操作性测试平台来验证我们的技术以及其他研究人员在该领域开发的技术。如果成功，本研究的结果将使产品开发中的利益相关者能够表达和交流他们的意图，而不是受到语法翻译者的限制，从而导致意图的丧失。W3C标准的使用将促进开放源码软件工具包的开发。试验台将提供一套基准，可以用来评估公平竞争环境中的竞争技术。正确互操作的能力将促进下一代产品开发软件的开发。对于小企业供应商来说，这意味着他们可以只投资于几个最适合他们工作性质的软件工具。这将使工程师、经理和技术专业人员更有效率、更有生产力和更具竞争力。

The research objective of this award is to create a software framework based on ontology representation that facilitates data exchange between various product development software systems. The development of methods to enable ontology-based interoperability ensures that the semantics of product data are preserved, and when necessary translated. The main focus is on determining maps between concepts across different product development software while addressing issues of external heterogeneity (differences across systems), internal heterogeneity (heterogeneous components of product data) and uncertainty (one-to-many maps). An ontology will be developed to represent knowledge-based inputs, e.g., Function, Assembly and Tolerances using the W3C standards, OWL and SWRL. Concepts from information theory will be coupled with probabilistic approaches to determine semantic similarities using available data. Fuzzy-set based approaches will be applied to determine semantic similarities for concepts that cannot be compared using crisp probabilistic approaches. A semantic interoperability test bed will be developed to validate our techniques and those developed by other researchers in this area.If successful, the results of this research will enable stakeholders in product development to express and exchange their intent instead of being restricted by the syntactic translators that lead to a loss of the intent. The use of W3C standards will facilitate the development of open-source software toolkits. The test bed will provide a suite of benchmarks, which can be used to evaluate competing techniques on a level playing field.. The ability to interoperate correctly will stimulate development of next-generation product development software. For small-business suppliers, this means that they can invest in just a few software tools that are the best for the nature of their job. This will enable engineers, managers, and technical professionals to be more effective, productive, and competitive.