A categorical approach towards metamodeling

Cyber-physical systems, orchestrating computing, networking, and physical processes, are coupled, hybrid systems characterized by heterogeneous, interconnected subsystems. In civil engineering, the most common applications of cyber-physical systems are associated with structural health monitoring (SHM) and structural control. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of cyber-physical systems designed for structural health monitoring and control applications, it is hardly possible to reliably assess the quality of a cyber-physical system (CPS), which is needed for increased availability and for identifying potential sources of faults in a CPS. This conceptual paper proposes a metamodeling approach that can be used as a basis to model cyber-physical systems in order to assess the CPS quality based on category theory. Category theory is a mathematical theory that allows formalizing concepts of high-level abstractions on a meta level. Using the CPS metamodeling approach presented in this paper, each subsystem of a CPS can be modeled and assessed individually, entailing a holistic quality assessment of a CPS and its subsystems. However, since this paper is conceptual, it is intended to devote additional future research efforts to metamodeling and assessing cyber-physical systems, achieving a complete conceptual modeling framework for cyber-physical systems applied in structural health monitoring and control.