How to learn function of devices

A goal of this research is developing methods for learning the function of devices from a qualitative description of their structure and behavior using functional reasoning. The qualitative function formation (QFF) technique is introduced. In QFF, a function concept is defined as an interpretation of a persistence or an order in the sequence of qualitative states, using a trace of the qualitative state vector derived by simulation on a qualitative model of a device. Examples of application of QFF in categorization and learning the function of components in engineering design are given