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

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. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.