Generating SysML views from an OPM model: Design and evaluation

Conceptual modeling is key to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approaches. OPM (Object-Process Methodology) and SysML (OMG Systems Modeling Language) are two state-of-the-art conceptual modeling languages. While both languages aim at the same purpose of providing a means for general-purpose systems engineering, these languages take different approaches in realizing this goal. As each of the languages has its relative strengths and weaknesses, ways to create synergies between them are considered in this work. We propose combining advantages of each language through automatic generation of several SysML views from an OPM model. To this end, we developed a new algorithm and software application for implementing the OPM-to-SysML views generation, and evaluated the results through an experiment conducted for this purpose. The formally constructed experiment described in this paper, which has been designed to test the quality of the auto-generated diagrams and their impact on system comprehension, indicates that the addition of some auto-generated SysML views to an OPM system model has increased system comprehension level. Our approach can benefit various stakeholders by promoting better system understanding, standardization, and improved interoperability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 14: © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.