work unit
Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a work unit, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.
Generated draft, first pass
This model was drafted by rule from what the registry knows about the thing. It proposes which bundles a real model will need and which questions research must answer. It is not researched and no sentence in it is sourced.
Generator: vr.draft.v3
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Derived, awaiting review
7 bundles · 15 layers · 17 findings · 49 questions
Identity, naming and classification How an agent tells one work unit from another, and a work unit from things that resemble it.
Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.
Names and identifiers
The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.
Preferred name, aliases and local names
Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.
- What identifies and describes the name of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the name of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the name of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Stable identifiers and external keys
Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.
- What identifies and describes an identifier for a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Classification and granularity
Where a work unit sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.
Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds
The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.
- What identifies and describes the kind of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the kind of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Distinguishing features
What separates a work unit from the things most often confused with it.
- What identifies and describes what distinguishes a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Form, composition and condition What a work unit is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.
A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.
Form and dimensions
Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples at geographic scale.
Measurable dimensions and their units
The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.
- What identifies and describes the dimensions of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Material and composition
Materials, parts and how they are put together.
Parts and materials
What a work unit is built from and which parts are replaceable.
- What identifies and describes the composition of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the composition of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Condition and integrity
Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.
Condition, damage and health
How the condition of a work unit is judged and by whom.
- What identifies and describes the condition of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the condition of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Place and movement Where a work unit is, how it got there and where it may go (fixed).
A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.
Location and placement
Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.
Position, container and reference frame
Where a work unit is, and what that position is measured against.
- What identifies and describes the location of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the location of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the location of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Movement and transfer
How a work unit is carried, installed or relocated.
Movement events and constraints
What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.
- What identifies and describes the movement of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the movement of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
State and lifecycle The states a work unit passes through and the events that move it between them.
Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.
Lifecycle stages
From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.
Stages and transitions
The stages worth naming and what moves a work unit between them.
- What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Observations and current status
What is observed about a work unit, how often and by whom.
Observation record
How an observation of a work unit is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.
- What identifies and describes an observation of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about an observation of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Use and operation What can be done with a work unit and what it takes to do it.
An agent that can recognise a thing but not act on it has only half a model.
Intended use and function
What a work unit is for, and what it is used for anyway.
Function, purpose and misuse
The function a work unit performs and the uses that fall outside it.
- What identifies and describes the use of a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the use of a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the use of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Handling and procedure
The steps, skills and tools involved in using a work unit.
Procedures, skills and required tools
What an agent needs before it can act on a work unit at all.
- What identifies and describes handling a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about handling a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once handling a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Definition, dimension and realisation What work unit is defined as and how it is realised in practice.
A unit is not the quantity it measures, and its definition has a history that older data still depends on.
Definition and dimension
The defining relation and the quantity it measures.
Definition, body and date
What defines it now, and what defined it before.
- How is work unit defined, by which body, and since when? definition
- What was the previous definition, and what data still depends on it? provenance
Conversion and compatibility
Relations to other units, exact or approximate.
Conversions and their exactness
Factors, and whether each is exact by definition.
- What conversions relate work unit to other units, and which are exact by definition? measurement
- Where does rounding a conversion change a decision, and how should that be recorded? action
Provenance, evidence and time Where every claim about a work unit came from and when it held.
A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.
Source and authority
Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.
Claim provenance and confidence
The authority behind each claim about a work unit and how confident it is.
- What identifies and describes a claim about a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about a claim about a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Time, versions and supersession
When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.
Validity period and supersession
How an old claim about a work unit is retired without being erased.
- What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a work unit, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a work unit, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a work unit is known, and what must it refuse? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- unit, quantity or measure
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.PLC
What it is Derived, awaiting review
A physical thing registered under PHY.PLC. The registry names it; this draft has not been given a definition yet.
Why it exists Derived, awaiting review
Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a work unit, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.
Distinguishing features Derived, awaiting review
- Described in 9 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is.
What robots and AI may and may not do Derived, awaiting review
May
- observe it, measure it, record its state
- enter it, cross it, travel along it
Moral aspects Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Owners Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Links to other meta-models Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Incomplete
Identity and identifiers required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Direct properties required Derived, awaiting review
- Made of: a portion of the world with an extent
- On the scale of a landscape, measured in kilometres.
- Stays where it was put; moving it is a project.
- Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.
- These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing.
Recognition required Derived, awaiting review
- Nothing to see: a unit is a convention. What is seen is an instrument reading in it.
Capabilities and actions required Derived, awaiting review
- observed and measured
- entered, crossed or travelled along
Hazards and failure modes required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Standards and interfaces required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Context of use required Derived, awaiting review
- Described in 9 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.
Sources Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Open questions
- Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?
- What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?
- Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a work unit, and on what evidence are they told apart?
- What may an agent decide or do once the name of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse?
- What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a work unit is known, and what must it refuse?
- What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a work unit is known, and what must it refuse?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry, generated draft (pass 1) · not researched
Built from: models/draft_model.php, wikidata
Generated by rule from registry facets. No source was read; every derived section awaits the research pass.