Integrated Digital Engineering Architecture using Semantics (IDEAS)

Navy engineers use a variety of software tools to track system requirements, perform model-based engineering tasks, and manage computer aided design. The inability to link related information between digital engineering tools leads to potential errors and inconsistencies in design that must be manually validated, and ultimately slows down the design and development of new systems. To address this issue, Charles River Analytics proposes an Integrated Digital Engineering Architecture using Semantics (IDEAS) that enables exchange of information between digital engineering tools and ensures consistency between requirements and designs. IDEAS is composed of four major pieces: (1) a Semantic Web Backbone including a domain ontology (a data fabric) that enables interoperability between digital engineering tools; (2) a translator layer specific to each tool that integrates the tool with the Semantic Web Backbone; (3) plugins specific to each tool that provide insight into the design and requirements that are represented in the underlying data fabric; and (4) a dashboard user interface (UI) that provides a unified view of the integrated data.