The primary goal of this project is to research and develop the use of the qualitative reasoning paradigm for providing intelligent support to the preliminary aspects of simulation model design. Specifically, the research will be targeted at the application of qualitative reasoning to the description validation and the conceptual model design activities. In order to achieve this goal, the specific Phase II objectives are to develop ontologies for a specific manufacturing system domain and the simulation modeling domain; to extract and formalize Common Sense Principles of System Operation; to refine the IDEF3 model- theoretic semantics; to research and prototype a qualitative reasoning engine comprising ontological and common sense reasoning components; and to demonstrate the application of this qualitative reasoning engine to the tasks of description validation and conceptual model design. The main benefits of the proposed research will be to provide intelligent support for the initial analysis and model design tasks of the simulation modeling proces; to enhance the productivity of both the domain expert nd the simulation analyst; and to enhance the acceptance of simulation modeling techniques by decision makers in industry and business. The results of this research have the potential to make a significant impact on the state-of-the-art in simulation modeling technology.
