Pablo Bermell-Garcia

A critical review of Knowledge-Based Engineering: An identification of research challenges

Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) is a research field that studies methodologies and technologies for capture and re-use of product and process engineering knowledge. The objective of KBE is to reduce time and cost of product development, which is primarily achieved through automation of repetitive design tasks while capturing, retaining and re-using design knowledge. Published research on KBE is not very extensive and also quite dispersed; this paper is an effort to collect and review existing literature on KBE. A total of 50 research contributions have been analysed. The main objectives of this analysis are to identify the theoretical foundations of KBE and to identify research issues within KBE, pointing out the challenges and pitfalls that currently prohibit a wider adoption of KBE while suggesting avenues for further research. Key findings include (a) the necessity for improved methodological support and adherence, (b) better transparency and traceability of knowledge, (c) the necessity for a quantitative framework to assess the viability and success of KBE development and implementation projects, and (d) the opportunity to move towards mass customization approaches through distributed deployment of KBE in the extended enterprise.

Practitioner requirements for integrated Knowledge-Based Engineering in Product Lifecycle Management

The effective management of knowledge as capital is considered essential to the success of engineering product/service systems. As Knowledge Management (KM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) practice gain industrial adoption, the question of functional overlaps between both the approaches becomes evident. This article explores the interoperability between PLM and Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) as a strategy for engineering KM. The opinion of key KBE/PLM practitioners are systematically captured and analysed. A set of ranked business functionalities to be fulfiled by the KBE/PLM systems integration is elicited. The article provides insights for the researchers and the practitioners playing both the user and development roles on the future needs for knowledge systems based on PLM.

International Standard Development for Knowledge Based Engineering Services for Product Lifecycle Management

In September 2005, the international information technology standard body Object Management Group (OMG) published a Request for Proposal (RFP) for an international standard for Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) Services for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). The standard aims to facilitate the integration of KBE applications in a PLM environment. KBE has been used in key engineering industry to deliver significant business benefits and has been a catalyst for changes in engineering processes. In recent years, mainstream CAD vendors begin to incorporate KBE functionalities in their solutions. PLM is evolving from the platform to manage engineering data to the repository of complete enterprise knowledge. As CAD becomes more knowledge based, the convergence of KBE and PLM is expected to happen soon. The OMG standard RFP is an action to accelerate this convergence. The RFP is the result of an international effort with a team that includes engineering end users, software vendors and researchers. This paper presents the essence and the development process of the RFP to widen the engagement with the engineering research community.

Knowledge-Based Engineering

The handling of knowledge represents the key to competitiveness, with company-specific product and process knowledge marking a unique position with respect to competition. Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is a comprehensive application of artificial intelligence in engineering. It facilitates new product development by automating repetitive design tasks through acquisition, capture, transform, retention, share, and (re-)use of product and process knowledge. The idea behind KBE is to store engineering knowledge once by suitable, user friendly means and use it whenever necessary in a formal, well documented, repeatable and traceable process. It works like design automation. This chapter begins with the definition of knowledge in an engineering context and subsequently addresses the state-of-the-art in KBE research. Three particular areas of research are discussed in detail: knowledge structuring, maintainability of knowledge and KBE applications, and the technological progress and weaknesses of commercial KBE applications like KBE templates. From case study examples, various recent developments in KBE research, development and industrial exploitation are highlighted. By the resulting sequence optimization of the design process a significant time saving can be achieved. However, there are still notable drawbacks such as the complexity of KBE implementation and the adaptability of developed applications that need to be researched and solved. A view on KBE systems within the Concurrent Engineering context is synthesized, leading to the identification of future directions for research.

Transforming expertise into Knowledge-Based Engineering tools

Research on Engineering Knowledge Management (EKM) has identified challenges with the systematic source of engineering knowledge for the design process optimisation. In this context, Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) is acknowledged as a key area within the EKM field and designated by the research community as a potential solution to carry out the effective capture and reuse of expert knowledge. However, papers on KBE for knowledge sourcing are not abundant in the literature and they are also dispersed. From this perspective, this research is an effort to further consolidate the learning gained on industrial practice on how engineering knowledge can be effectively sourced. This is achieved by realising a research survey, where using the resulting insights KBE practice reaching aerospace engineering offices shall be more efficiently delivered through fast and accurate knowledge extraction and encoding into usable methods and tools. The research findings provided by literature survey confirmed the existence of a research gap on knowledge sourcing; and more precisely they underlined the need for an extended KBE development process which integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and expert intervention to systematically manage the knowledge (using the KM methods and tools) efficiently captured and modelled (employing AI algorithms and expert involvement). Therefore, this paper concludes that there is a need for further research on the knowledge sourcing KBE aspect and presents the integration of KBE systems and AI implementations as a potential solution to develop the extended KBE development process requested by the industry.

Immersive Mixed Reality for Manufacturing Training

In the complex manufacturing sector a considerable amount of resources is focused on training workers and developing new skills. Increasing the effectiveness of those processes and reducing the investment required is an outstanding issue. In this paper, we present an experiment (n=20) that shows how modern metaphors such as collaborative Mixed Reality can be used to transmit procedural knowledge and could eventually replace other forms of face-to-face training. We implemented a Mixed Reality setup with see-through cameras attached to a Head Mounted Display. The setup allowed for real-time collaborative interactions and could simulate conventional forms of training. We tested the system implementing a manufacturing procedure of an aircraft maintenance door. The obtained results indicate that performance levels in the Immersive Mixed Reality training were not significantly different than in the conventional face-to-face training condition. These results and their implications for future training and the use of Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality paradigms in this context are discussed in this paper.

Categorisation of visualisation methods to support the design of Human-Computer Interaction Systems.

During the design of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) systems, the creation of visual artefacts forms an important part of design. On one hand producing a visual artefact has a number of advantages: it helps designers to externalise their thought and acts as a common language between different stakeholders. On the other hand, if an inappropriate visualisation method is employed it could hinder the design process. To support the design of HCI systems, this paper reviews the categorisation of visualisation methods used in HCI. A keyword search is conducted to identify a) current HCI design methods, b) approaches of selecting these methods. The resulting design methods are filtered to create a list of just visualisation methods. These are then categorised using the approaches identified in (b). As a result 23 HCI visualisation methods are identified and categorised in 5 selection approaches (The Recipient, Primary Purpose, Visual Archetype, Interaction Type, and The Design Process).

Framework for remote collaborative interaction in virtual environments based on proximity

This paper presents a framework for remote collaborations within distributed teams where there is a need to communicate, share and modify information. The use of virtual environments is proposed to enhance Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). The current framework gravitates along the concepts of self-representation and proximity to implement different levels of interactivity both in the communication and in the collaboration axis. Proxemics is used as the rule for communications allows a high scalability for densely populated collaborative scenarios. Furthermore the use of proximity as the main rule to interact with the shared content establishes different levels of collaboration.

Augmenting Remote Presence For Interactive Dashboard Collaborations

We implement the use of silhouette representation for collaboration using interactive dashboards. In order to test its effectiveness against other modalities of interaction we ran a guided data exploration task in a Visual Analytics tool using a tactile dashboard in three modes: face-to-face, teleconference, and enhanced teleconference with silhouette representation. Even though no performance differences were found across the conditions, results show increased coordination abilities of the participants when the remote person is represented by a silhouette, furthermore important behavioral changes related to the presence illusion are also found only in the silhouette condition.

Argumentation in virtual collaborative environments addressing complex issues through remote synchronous collaboration

This paper presents a new method for collaborative argumentation construction, for remote participants working synchronously. A case study is presented to demonstrate the implementation of the concept of embedding an argumentation visualisation tool within a 3D virtual collaborative environment, for remote collaboration in addressing complex issues.