Interoperability of product and manufacturing information using ontology

Abstract

The communication among different computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing/analysis systems usually involves huge amount of information and heterogeneous data formats. Inefficient communication between computer-aided design and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing/analysis systems leads to information loss, which will lead to design and fabrication errors. Therefore, a bridge is needed to be made between the systems so that models can be transported easily and efficiently from the computer-aided design system to another system. To carry out successful manufacturing operation, not only parametric information and machining information but also non-parametric information is needed to be transported. The non-parametric information are geometric dimensioning and tolerance, notes, and other annotation to three-dimensional models which, altogether, are regarded as product and manufacturing information. Exchange of product and manufacturing information is to be done not only syntactically but also semantically. It is necessary to identify ontology and semantics early in the process so that the system is able to view, understand, and define the concepts relating to parametric and non-parametric information to improve interoperability and overcome data sharing problems. Neutral formats such as STEP, Initial Graphics Exchange Specifications, or prominent interoperability-related research works offer integration of other systems with computer-aided design. However, exchange of non-parametric information or product and manufacturing information has not been considered in these research works. To achieve semantic integration of information between computer-aided design and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing/analysis systems, this article proposes a data integration method for both—parametric information of a model and non-parametric information (product and manufacturing information)—by constructing a neutral platform using OWL ontology, and also shows a pilot implementation that verifies interoperability between commercial computer-aided design and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing/analysis systems.