A Device-Oriented Definition of Functions of Artifacts and Its Perspectives
A Device-Oriented Definition of Functions of Artifacts and Its Perspectives
This chapter demonstrates that in spite of the importance of the notion of function for engineering practice there is no common interpretation of it. It proposes a device-oriented definition of function that is related to device behaviors. It defines “function” as a role played by a behavior in its use context. It describes the definition of the function of technical artifacts from the device viewpoint. It uses local functions as the base-functions in order to realize composability of device models. This chapter suggests that a generic reference ontology of function can clarify the ontological differences between functional vocabularies and thus enhance the interoperability of functional knowledge.
Keywords: device-oriented definition, functional knowledge, technical artifacts, generic reference ontology, ontological differences, functional vocabularies
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