Ontology-based description of functional design knowledge and its use in a functional way server

Abstract

In conceptual design of engineering devices, a designer decomposes a required function into sub-functions, so-called functional decomposition, using a kind of functional knowledge representing achievement relations among functions. However, such knowledge about functionality of engineering devices is usually left implicit because each designer possesses it. Even if such knowledge is found in documents, it is often scattered around technical domains and lacks consistency. Aiming at capturing such functional knowledge explicitly and sharing it in design teams, we discuss its systematic description based on functional ontologies which provide common concepts for its consistent and generic description. We propose a new concept named 'way of achievement' as a key concept for capturing such functional knowledge. Categorization of typical representations of the knowledge and its organization as is-a hierarchies are also discussed. The generic concepts representing functionality of a device in the functional knowledge are provided by the functional concept ontology, which makes the functional knowledge consistent and applicable to other domains. We also discuss development of a design supporting system using the systematized knowledge, called a functional way server. It helps human designers redesign an existing engineering device by providing a wide range of alternative ways of achievement of the required function in a manner suitable for the viewpoint of each designer and then facilitates innovative design. q

A framework to integrate design knowledge reuse and requirements management in engineering design

“…An automotive seat specification ontology was developed which enables a shared understanding of the product and relationships between product concepts . Another example of an ontology-based approach is the function-way server, which applies a function ontology along with a product ontology to support conceptual design (Kitamura and Mizoguchi 2003). Ontology can be applied to the whole range of product attributes, including form, function, and behaviour.…”

On the formal impossibility of analysing subfunctions as parts of functions in design methodology

“…Such a labelling makes engineering sense and has already been proposed by Kitamura and Mizoguchi (2003) since in their account, a way of achievement is added to each functional decomposition as was discussed in Sect. 2 (see Fig.…”

On the conversion of functional models: bridging differences between functional taxonomies in the modeling of user actions

“…The approach supports various tasks. It is for instance employed in building an ontology for functions and in developing an automated design support system (Kitamura and Mizoguchi 2003). The approach is currently deployed in an engineering division of a Japanese industrial firm for sharing functional device knowledge among its team members (Kitamura et al 2005(Kitamura et al /2006.…”

“…The functional modeling language used in this approach consists of a generic set of verbs. These verbs are called functional concepts (Kitamura and Mizoguchi 2003;Kitamura et al 2005Kitamura et al /2006. In a functional model or functional decomposition, a set of sub functions is specified that realize the overall function.…”