Constraint Checking of Skills using SHACL

Abstract

Semantic technologies such as ontologies are increasingly used to describe the functions of machines in the form of so-called capabilities or skills. Ontologies provide powerful mechanisms to infer new knowledge, but there are no builtin mechanisms to test the presence of information which is needed by other systems, e.g. for skill execution. In this contribution, we show how the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL) can be used in order to formulate constraints against skills. Such constraints contain all mandatory information and can be used to check the validity of new skills when they are added into an existing production system. This ensures interoperability of skills from different manufacturers as wrongfully modelled skills that lack certain information can be discarded and marked for revision.