Semantic technologies for engineering asset life cycle management

Abstract

The use of semantic technologies and ontologies is becoming more and more popular in engineering applications and particularly in product modelling. Still, the use is limited in academia and applications are of a small scale. In this paper we present the research work done by the closed-loop life cycle management (CL2M) team of the Laboratory for Computer-Aided Design and Production (LICP) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, on the use of ontology-based technologies for the life cycle management of products and engineering assets. This research has been performed through a number of PhD works partially financed by the European Framework Program for research. It aims at providing both a wider understanding of the benefits of applying such technologies in the complex environment of asset life cycle management (ALM) and at providing a platform for implementing ontology models in industrial environments.

Current trends on ICT technologies for enterprise information systems

“…Semantic descriptions such as ontologies allow the derivation of a holistic representation of user interactions as well as context related information in a single, application-independent framework (Kiritsis D. 2013). By analyzing status information retrieved directly from user interactions, a system for context-driven access will be able to generate input parameters to identify the context-information: For instance a user is logged in as "structural designer" and clicks on a specific part such as a "structural node".…”

“…It is important to note that related research works are conducted in parallel with ongoing advances in semantic technologies (Kiritsis D. 2013). With the perspective of a single and neutral backbone ontology in mind, the holistic approach of data integration can be enabled through the adoption of the Linked Data principles (El Kadiri, Milicic, and Kiritsis 2013).…”

Ontologies in the context of product lifecycle management: state of the art literature review

“…El Kadiri, Milicic, and Kiritsis (2013) propose a methodology to support PLM taking advantage from the emerging paradigm of Linked Data which offer a promising approach for data integration. Additional ontology applications are provided in Kiritsis (2012) putting the light on the benefits of applying such technologies in the context of Asset Lifecycle Management.…”

Wireless Condition Monitoring Integrating Smart Computing and Optical Sensor Technologies

“…The main ICT enablers for e-maintenance are web-based and semantic maintenance [13], taking into account interoperability considerations (typically the Machinery Information Open System Alliance, MIMOSA, standard-www.mimosa.org), mobile and context-aware computing [2], cloud computing and smart data management [14], as well as wireless sensing and identification [3,4]. An e-maintenance architecture has been developed that seeks to employ such technologies to vertically integrate data and processes from the shop floor up to the level of maintenance management [7].…”