A Text Understanding Interface for Physical System Modeling and Simulation

ABSTRACT This paper describes a method for using text description as a natural interface to construct models of mechanical systems. The goal is to convert the natural text description from the user to a system of equations that can be used to model and simulate the system. The algorithm of this process consists of three main stages: 1-Component Extraction, 2Interaction detection and 3-Attribute detection. The description is first parsed to identify and instantiate components. The text is then scanned again to analyze the action verbs to identify component attributes and to detect connections between the components. Finally, numerical values and initial conditions are associated with the attributes. System equations are generated by detecting loops in the device description. The knowledge is gradually built up through progressive scanning and analysis of text. The paper describes the algorithms, presents a detailed example and identifies current assumptions and restrictions