SPATIAL RELATIONS IN TECHNICAL DOMAINS

When developing expert systems for technical domains, spatial informat ion often has to be considered. Due to the nature of space in technica l domains, special representations and special processing methods for spatial problems are needed. Recent work in this area includes some in teresting approaches. Most of them handle this complex area very pragm atically-dependent on their domain. In this contribution, we take a mo re formal approach and direct our attention towards the definition of a set of domain-independent spatial relations, from which more complex relations can be constructed. Just four primitive relations are neede d. They are sufficient for describing the whole set of spatial relatio ns between two rectangles parallel to the axes of the coordinate syste m. In order to show the relevance of this approach to real-world appli cations, we use the cabin layout of an AIRBUS A340 as an example.