Ontology-based conceptual design for ultra-precision hydrostatic guideways with human–machine interaction

This paper proposed a human–machine integrated conceptual design method based on ontology, aiming at eliminating the uncertainties and blindness during the design process of ultra-precision grinding machine, especially for its key component–the ultra-precision hydrostatic guideways. Both the required knowledge and the database of hydrostatic guideways are modelled using ontologies to provide a consensual understanding among collaborators. Moreover, a formalized knowledge searching interface is developed to obtain similar instances as references according to the design principles and rules. Based on the imaginal thinking theory, the search process and the results are attempted to be presented in the form of image in order to fit human's customary intuitive thinking frame, facilitating the decision making process. Finally, our design of hydrostatic guideways for an ultra-precision grinding machine is used to validate the effectiveness of the method.