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OPCAT is an advanced, commericially-available Object-Process Methodology (OPM)-based software platform for conceptual modelling of complex systems in virtually any domain. OPCAT is used to teach OPM in leading institutions of higher education and is applied in a variety of industrial and scientific domains, from banking through defense to molecular...
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... The semantics is presented to the modeler via automatic generation of OPL -Object-Process Language, a subset of English or any other natural language, from the graphical input. OPCloud enables collaborative model editing through a web browser, commenting, annotating model elements with comments, model sharing with transferrable editing rights, exporting the model to such formats as PDF and JPG, full control over styling, a rich graphic user interface, and backward compatibility with OPCAT, a previous OPM modeling software [33]. OPCloud versions or builds with new features are released on an almost monthly basis. ...
p>The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a network of cyber-physical devices – sensors, actuators, and other devices, which monitor and control physical systems, such as manufacturing facilities operating with the Industry 4.0 paradigm, while collecting and sharing massive data globally over the internet. As the IoT security landscape evolves, so does the “cyber mafia,” which targets cyber-physical systems from the corporate level all the way to Industry 4.0 floor-shop control systems, in which IoT is a key component. IoT devices are becoming ubiquitous and controllable from hand-held devices, raising the potential to disrupt or destroy large industrial complexes in a touch of a screen if not protected properly. This growing risk mandates the adoption of new approaches to incorporating rigorous security standards into IoT systems as early as possible in their system lifecycle. A methodology is presented for incorporating into IoT systems security as a bona fide, quantifiable attribute that is built into the components (objects) and operations (processes). To this end, the synergy of combining model-based systems engineering with embedded IoT system security is leveraged. At the heart of the methodology is a combined qualitative-quantitative IoT OPM model of the system with security scores, which provides for evaluating underlying system configurations, each with its level of security and possibly other optimization criteria. This approach enables balancing IoT systems’ metrics, such as performance and cost, with security, and even optimizing the system under specified constraints.</p
... The semantics is presented to the modeler via automatic generation of OPL -Object-Process Language, a subset of English or any other natural language, from the graphical input. OPCloud enables collaborative model editing through a web browser, commenting, annotating model elements with comments, model sharing with transferrable editing rights, exporting the model to such formats as PDF and JPG, full control over styling, a rich graphic user interface, and backward compatibility with OPCAT, a previous OPM modeling software [33]. OPCloud versions or builds with new features are released on an almost monthly basis. ...
p>The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a network of cyber-physical devices – sensors, actuators, and other devices, which monitor and control physical systems, such as manufacturing facilities operating with the Industry 4.0 paradigm, while collecting and sharing massive data globally over the internet. As the IoT security landscape evolves, so does the “cyber mafia,” which targets cyber-physical systems from the corporate level all the way to Industry 4.0 floor-shop control systems, in which IoT is a key component. IoT devices are becoming ubiquitous and controllable from hand-held devices, raising the potential to disrupt or destroy large industrial complexes in a touch of a screen if not protected properly. This growing risk mandates the adoption of new approaches to incorporating rigorous security standards into IoT systems as early as possible in their system lifecycle. A methodology is presented for incorporating into IoT systems security as a bona fide, quantifiable attribute that is built into the components (objects) and operations (processes). To this end, the synergy of combining model-based systems engineering with embedded IoT system security is leveraged. At the heart of the methodology is a combined qualitative-quantitative IoT OPM model of the system with security scores, which provides for evaluating underlying system configurations, each with its level of security and possibly other optimization criteria. This approach enables balancing IoT systems’ metrics, such as performance and cost, with security, and even optimizing the system under specified constraints.</p
... Main features of OPCloud includes backward compatibility -the ability to import OPCAT files, a previous OPM modeling software [3] automatic generation of OPL -Object-Process Language, model sharing with transferrable editing rights, commenting, exporting the model, full control over styling, and a modern graphical user interface. ...
OPCloud is a Web-based collaborative software environment for model-based sys-temsengineering(MBSE)usedforcreatingconceptualmodelsinObject-ProcessMethod-ology, OPM, ISO 19450:2005. As we have been designing and developing OPCloud, wefaced several challenges, mostly stemming from the unique development environment.OPCloud is a high-end, Cloud-based tool. Software of this kind is developed by com-mercial companies, be they large established ones or small startups. In contrast, OP-Cloud is developed in an academic environment at a technological university. As such,it involves a variety of people contributing to its development, each having a dierentobjective,capabilities,andcommitmentlevel. Inthisreport,wedescribeourexperiencesof a three-year project of OPCloud software design and development. To this end, wehave adopted an agile development methodology, involving regular weekly meetings of all the development stakeholders and monthly product deployment to be delivered to thecommercial company customer. We describe how we engaged the diverse population of developers, including faculty, post-doctoral fellows, academic researchers, graduate andundergraduate students, and dedicated developers, in the software development process
... An example of a procedural link is consumption: a process, once complete, consumes the object. OPCAT [31] is a desktop software application based on OPM, which participants used in creating their models. ...
italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:
The authors present a methodology for assessing both novelty and systems thinking, as expressed in the same conceptual models constructed by graduate engineering students.
Background:
Companies worldwide seek employees with creativity and systems thinking, since solving design problems requires both skills. Novelty and usefulness are the most commonly accepted components of creativity, while systems thinking is the holistic understanding of systems.
Research Question:
How can novelty and systems thinking be assessed based on conceptual models (of technological systems) constructed by graduate engineering students?
Methodology:
Six student teams of two to four members each (
$N =21$
) constructed solution models based on Object-Process Methodology, a formal methodology and language for model-based systems engineering. The authors assessed these models for novelty and for systems thinking using two existing rubrics based on the construction of system aspects—function, structure, and behavior.
Findings:
The authors provide indications that both novelty and systems thinking can be assessed based on conceptual models of technological systems.
... Each student team was assigned to model a familiar Webbased information system in OPM using OPCAT [26], a freely available desktop software program for constructing OPM models. 1 Among systems that the student teams selected for modeling were Airbnb, 2 Dropbox, 3 TripAdvisor, 4 Waze 5 and Wix. 6 More than one team could select the same system. ...
Contribution: A rubric for assessing the systems thinking expressed in conceptual models of technological systems has been constructed and assessed using a formal methodology. The rubric, a synthesis of prior findings in science and engineering education, forms a framework for improving communication between science and engineering educators. Background: Systems thinking is an important skill in engineering, but to date no rubric for assessing this skill based on a formal methodology has been published with reliability and validity measures. Research Questions: (a) What attributes should a rubric for assessing the systems thinking of engineering students comprise? (b) To what extent can such a rubric serve in assessing the systems thinking level of engineering students, as expressed in their conceptual system models? Methodology: Based on a literature review of systems thinking assessment in science and engineering education, the authors classified the systems thinking attributes they had identified into system function, structure, and behavior. Scoring instructions were developed for conceptual system models based on Object-Process Methodology ISO 19450, a formal methodology and language for model-based systems engineering. A total of 142 undergraduate engineering students in 32 teams modeled Web-based systems using the methodology. Each team submitted two models of the same system, at the middle and end of semester. Models were scored using the rubric, and its reliability and validity were evaluated. Findings: Indications of interrater reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity were acceptable, excluding the system function aspect, implying the rubric may be used reliably for its intended purpose.
... An example of a procedural link is consumption: a process, once complete, consumes the object. OPCAT [31] is a desktop software application based on OPM, which participants used in creating their models. ...
... OPM models can be created with OPCAT (Dori et al. 2010), a CASE tool for designing and testing OPM models. A summary of OPM symbols and rules is presented in ''Appendix 1.'' ...
... A summary of OPM symbols and rules is presented in ''Appendix 1.'' OPM is specified in Dori (2002Dori ( , 2015. The ISO standardization process of OPM is described by Blekhman et al. (2011). ...
Conceptual modeling is an important initial stage in the life cycle of engineered systems. It is also highly instrumental in studying existing unfamiliar systems—the focus of scientific inquiry. Conceptual modeling methodologies convey key qualitative system aspects, often at the expense of suppressing quantitative ones. We present and assess two approaches for solving this computational simplification problem by combining Object-Process Methodology (OPM), the new ISO/PAS 19450 standard, with MATLAB or Simulink without compromising the holism and simplicity of the OPM conceptual model. The first approach, AUTOMATLAB, expands the OPM model to a full-fledged MATLAB-based simulation. In the second approach, OPM computational subcontractor, computation-enhanced functions replace low-level processes of the OPM model with MATLAB or Simulink models. We demonstrate the OPM computational subcontractor on a radar system computation. Experimenting with students on a model of an online shopping system with and without AUTOMATLAB has indicated important benefits of employing this computation layer on top of the native conceptual OPM model.
... OPCAT [Dori et al., 2010;OPCAT, 2013] 1 is a freely available software environment that supports OPM-based conceptual modeling. The single model provides for clear and expressive animated simulation of the OPM model using OP-CAT, which greatly facilitates design-level debugging [Yaroker et al., 2013]. ...
Modeling plays an increasingly important role in the lifecycle of systems. Complex dynamic systems are difficult to model, preventing users from deeply understanding their intricate behavior. Existing conceptual modeling languages contain behavioral diagrams aimed to describe how the modeled system changes over time. However, most of these diagram types are static and do not directly reflect the system's behavior in space and time in a manner that is close to conceived reality. Models that are inherently visual and dynamic can potentially provide system architects and designers, as well as prospective customers, with profound understanding of the behavior of the system under development without requiring knowledge of any specific modeling language. Based on this conjecture, which is supported by cognitive neuroscience, we present Vivid Object-Process Methodology (OPM), a software module that generates and plays a “video clip” of the system under development from its OPM conceptual model. While requiring relatively little effort on the side of the modeler, this option explicates how the system behaves over time, providing a powerful tool for understanding and communicating complex systems dynamics. Testing Vivid OPM with human subjects, we found that it enhances the understandability of the system under study, especially in complex situations, where interaction is involved. The preliminary animation application we present can evolve into a powerful model-based 3-dimensional tool for visualizing systems of increasing complexity and sophistication, serving scientists,systems engineers, and students at all levels.
... The graphic modality is the hierarchical set of Object-Process Diagrams, while the textual modality is a corresponding set of sentences in a subset of English, called Object-Process Language (OPL). The model in this work was prepared using the OPM modeling tool, the objectprocess case tool (OPCAT) [21]. ...
... A major AI element of our modeling system is its ability to automatically generate natural language (English) text that caters to both humans and machines. This OPL text is generated on the fly by the freely available 1 OPCAT [21] software environment for each OPD separately, as well as for the entire system. The text changes in response to each semantic editing of the graphical modality of the model by the modeler. ...
... Two semantically equivalent modalities, graphic and textual, describe each OPM model. Figure 3 presents the top-level view of the CAVERN architecture via the graphic user interface of OPCAT [6], a software environment for OPM-based system modeling. Taught in academia (e.g., MIT) and applied in industry (e.g., NASA), OPCAT is used to model both CAVERN and the mRNA lifecycle [5] combined with glycolysis as a case in point (see Figure 2 as an example of one diagram of this model). ...
An intelligent multimedia device dubbed CAVERN - Computer-based Augmented Virtual Environment for Realizing Nature, is proposed as a quantum leap in molecular biology research. CAVERN is a system that leverages state-of-the-art technologies that include CAVE, supercomputing, electron microscopy, conceptual modeling, and biological text mining. After discussing the acute problems biological research is facing, the paper introduces the new notion of the human spatiotemporal comfort zone and a fourth multimedia learning assumption - the limited spatiotemporal comfort zone. Within this zone, people can use their senses to follow and understand complex systems that are currently accessible only through indirect observations. CAVERN translates nano-level processes into scenarios of human-size interacting molecules. A brief enumeration of the potential benefits of CAVERN in biology, health, and education is followed by a conceptual blueprint of CAVERN expressed via an Object-Process Methodology model. Finally, challenges and open problems in the way to achieving an operational CAVERN are presented.
