A Categorical Knowledge Management Software Platform for Advanced Areal Surface Texture Specification and Verification

Geometrical product specification and verification (GPS) standard system defined by ISO/TC 213 is a universal language for expressing tolerances and communicating functional requirements for geometrical workpieces in technical drawings. GPS is developed through cooperation by more than 60 countries and documented in hundreds of paper files. Hence, the GPS world is very complex and difficult to be handled. To overcome current implementation problems, this paper presents recent developments in applications of ISO GPS areal surface texture knowledge, by describing a novel integrated categorical knowledge management software platform. This paper discusses a categorical model to retrieve and integrated manage complex knowledge of GPS areal surface texture. To ensure the integration and consistency, this categorical model is also used to design and construct the software architecture and formulate the inference engine. This paper selects five typical examples to illustrate the areal surface texture knowledge capture and representation, multi-level management, and knowledge access facilities. The platform focuses on solving the intrinsic product design, manufacture and metrology problems by acting as a virtual domain expert through translating ISO GPS standards into the form of computerized expert knowledge.