CAD/CAE KNOWLEDGE-BASE DEVELOPMENT TOOL

CAD/CAE IS COMMONLY USED IN MANY ASPECTS OF SPACECRAFT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, ONCE AN ASSEMBLY OR SYSTEM IS DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED, THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE CAD/CAE FILES IS NO LONGER OF USE. THIS PROPOSAL DEFINES A CAD/CAE KNOWLEDGE-BASE DEVELOPMENT TOOL. IT WILL ENABLE DATA CONTAINED WITHIN THE CAD/CAM FILES TO BE TRANSLATED INTO A KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR USE THROUGHOUT THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE PRODUCT. IN ADDITION, THE TOOL WILL CONTAIN PROVISIONS FOR KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE TO EXPANDTHE KNOWLEDGE BASE THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, SIMULATION, TESTING, AND DEPLOYMENT PHASES OF THE PRODUCT. NATURAL-LANGUAGE PROCESSING WILL BE UTILIZED TO OBTAIN KNOWLEDGE FROM DESIGN, TEST, AND OPERATING PERSONNEL IN AREAS THAT AUTOMATED CAD/CAE FILE TO KNOWLEDGE BASE TRANSLATION IS NOT POSSIBLE. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE KNOWLEDGE BASE RESULTING FROM THIS WORK WOULD BE DIRECTLY APPLIED FOR USE WITH EXPERT SYSTEMS IN SUPPORT OF MISSION OPERATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL FURTHER ADVANCE THE CAPABILITIES OF AUTOMATED KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION, NATURAL LANGUAGE, LEARNING, AND COGNITIVE MODELING. IT WILL ALSO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AUTOMATED KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION.