Challenges in the Development and Integration of the Ground Vehicle Simulation Modeling Ontology

Abstract In this paper, challenges in authoring and implementing the Ground Vehicle Simulation Modeling Ontology, GVSMO, are presented. GVSMO seeks to address the need for advanced documentation, retrieval, integration and composition methods for high-fidelity, multi-physics, and multi-tool models and simulations. The US Army has identified simulation-based ground vehicle design methodologies and tools as key goals to speed the development of ground vehicles and implement next-generation mobility, autonomy, and electrification technologies. GVSMO addresses these needs by capturing domain knowledge about vehicle testing scenarios, ground vehicle architectures, operational environments, and simulation modeling and integrating the four domains within a fifth integration ontology. Challenges include maintaining ontological realism for a large domain, decomposing real-world testing documents into modelable units, drawing the distinction between classes and individuals within a complex domain, representing variant architectures and compound assertions within the OWL syntax, managing 150% modeling approaches, and merging several domain ontologies into one deployable ontology.