Publikation
Wissenserhebung und Analyse zum Entwicklungsprozeß eines Druckbehälters aus Faserverbundstoff
Markus Steffens
DFKI, DFKI Documents (D), Vol. 94-02, 1994.
Zusammenfassung
Within the scope of the DFKI-project IMCOD (Intelligent Manager for COmprehensive Design) a so-called 'Design-Manager' as an engineering expert system is being developed. The task of this manager as a part of an intelligent computer system shall be the coordination of single pieces of information provided by already existing information systems. These pieces of information shall now be distributed at a definite time in order to provide them for the user of the system for the solution of his technical problem.
In order to get an impression of the conventional constructional process without computational aid---starting at the idea of the new product up to its production and final marketing---an expert session with different experts from the constructional, the calculational, the manufacturing and financial field, together with a representative of a fictitious customer, was held in cooperation with the Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), situated at the University of Kaiserslautern. The session was recorded by video in order to reanalyse both, situations and also certain gestures of the participants when arguing.
This report deals with the analysis of the session, concentrating on the development of a flow chart reviewing the constructional steps and methods which lead to the final solution. Statements concerning the discussion management were especially focused because of their high importance for the solution of the design manager's coordinational tasks.
Finally, an ontology for the the systematic analysis of the domain 'Pressure Tanks made of Fiber Composites' was established, which shall enable users of the expert system to interpret different specific terms correctly by giving appropriate definitions. As the material field was not especially represented in the expert's discussion, a separate so called 'Material Ontology' as a sub-ontology of the prior general ontology was additionally created in order to give a better impression of the large variety of materials on both, the fiber and the polymer matrix side.