INGRAMM: TOWARDS A DIAGRAMMING METHODOLOGY FOR EARLY-STAGE MISSION LIFE CYCLE DESIGN INFORMATION

This paper describes work done on the third phase of the InGraMM (Integrated Graphical Mission Modeler) Project - a five-phased effort targeted toward the development of an enhanced diagramming methodology and proof-of-concept tool to improve the capture, visualization, evaluation, and communication of early-stage mission life cycle design information within Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) team environments. Phase Three of the InGraMM Project concentrates on the development of a semantic model that provides the logical underpinnings for the development of InGraMM as a graphical language methodology. This semantic model development necessitates the creation of an ontology containing explicit definitions in a prescribed format that convey the exact meanings of all the logical concepts (entities, relationships, properties, and so on) that are to be represented as part of InGraMM. While the specifics of the completed ontology, as discussed herein, have been developed for and applied to a particular test-case domain involving government-sponsored scientific remote-sensing satellite missions, the InGraMM ontology is easily extensible and could be tailored for application in many design/manufacturing domains in both the public and private sectors.