Model-Based System Specification With Tesperanto: Readable Text From Formal Graphics

Abstract

Technical reports and papers may be represented by a fundamental model, which can take the form of a block diagram, a state-machine, a flow diagram, or alternatively some ad hoc chart. This basic scheme can convey better the true value of otherwise verbose and potentially encumbered narrative-based specifications. We present a model-based methodology for authoring technical documents. The underlying idea is to first formalize the system to be specified using a conceptual model, and then automatically generate from the tested and verified model a humanly-readable text in a subset of English we call Tesperanto. This technical documents' authoring methodology is carried out in an integrated bimodal text-graphics document authoring environment. The methodology was evaluated with the International Organization for Standardization standards and a medical robotics case study. The evaluation resulted in tangible improvements in the quality and consistency of international standards. Further, it can serve to document complex dynamics among agents, such as interaction between an operation room technician robot and the surgeon, suggesting that it could be applied to represent and bring value to other types of technical documents.