Abstract

The Engineering Management Platform for Integration, Realization, and Execution (EMPIRE) is an open source software platform that combines model-based project management with complex systems engineering using ontologies written in first order logic. The tutorial will begin with a discussion of EMPIRE development motivation, ontological structure, and technical implementation. A full demonstration will then be provided, flowing from model instantiation to system hardware modeling to system software generation. After EMPIRE capability demonstrations, the forum will dive into the ontologies that underpin EMPIRE, beginning with simple terms and term relations and how they are translated into software constructs within the EMPIRE Ontology System (EOS). EOS is a database-integrated typescript service that facilitates ontological reasoning specific to the EMPIRE graphical user interface. By outputting positive and negative data structures for the creation, selection, prompting, and execution of EMPIRE information artifacts, EOS assists EMPIRE users creating Integrated Project Models via the ontological inference of new information. Each action in EMPIRE represents an ontological query passed through EOS, directly supporting the synthesis of model-based project management and complex systems engineering. The development history of EOS will be discussed with respect to lessons learned when building ontology-based software.

Speaker

Michael Halvorson

received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University in 2017. He then received a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University in 2020 and is now a doctoral student in Aerospace Systems Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Michael was a NASA Research Fellow from 2018-2022 and has been Chief Engineer and acting Lead Systems Engineer for the Alabama CubeSat Initiative since January 2021. Michael develops new methods for Model-Based Systems Engineering of complex systems including ontologies for architecture, design, integration, reliability, requirements, and verification. He leads the strategic direction of the Unified Ontologies Foundry, the organization developing the ontological basis underpinning the Engineering Management Platform for Integration, Realization, and Execution (EMPIRE).