{ "model": { "rank": 2089, "code": "thing-q12806", "model_id": "vr.tr.abacus", "name": "abacus", "purpose": "Enable an agent to recognise a physical abacus, interpret its configured counting state, assess whether it can be used reliably, and choose appropriate operations or care.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q12806/", "tier": 2, "score": 115, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "toy abacus", "yupana", "Russian abacus", "soroban", "Banshu soroban" ], "aliasCount": 5, "merged": 5, "knownIn": 115, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q12806", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12806", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T09:47:40Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.01222164, "turns": 1, "seconds": 145.7, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 71.1, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07b3f-e0fa-70c1-9f7d-a58e7279518a\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: abacus\nRegistry id: vr.tr.abacus\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA Vercy mod" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q12806", "registryId": "vr.tr.abacus", "name": "abacus", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q12806/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.abacus", "name": "abacus", "purpose": "Enable an agent to recognise a physical abacus, interpret its configured counting state, assess whether it can be used reliably, and choose appropriate operations or care.", "definition": "A framed place-value calculator whose digits are embodied as beads or equivalent counters constrained to rods, wires, or grooves, so that the elementary operations of arithmetic are performed by sliding those counters rather than by writing numerals.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the physical abacus, its counting elements and layout, the conventions needed to interpret their positions, and the constraints on operating that particular instrument.", "in_scope": [ "The frame, counting surface, rods, wires, grooves, dividers and movable counting elements present on the instrument", "The mapping from counting-element positions to values under an explicitly identified convention", "The currently represented quantity, including ambiguous or unfinished configurations", "Physical completeness, readability and freedom of movement", "Permitted manipulation, arithmetic use, resetting and instrument-specific care" ], "out_of_scope": [ "General arithmetic theory and algorithms independent of the instrument", "Digital abacus simulations and electronic calculators", "Loose counters with no established abacus arrangement or counting convention", "The learner's mathematical competence and teaching curriculum", "Ownership, valuation and collection management beyond constraints affecting interpretation or handling" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "It provides an organised physical layout in which movable elements can occupy positions assigned counting significance; a decorative bead arrangement without such a mapping is insufficient.", "Its quantity is represented through the arrangement of counting elements, rather than read solely from an electronic display, dial or written numeral.", "Operating it involves moving counting elements according to a convention; it does not require the mechanically linked digit wheels characteristic of a mechanical calculating machine.", "Its layout supports an identifiable counting convention, distinguishing an abacus from a bead maze or rack whose bead positions have no established numerical interpretation.", "A frame with captive beads is not the sole recognition test: an organised counting surface with separate counters requires an explicit boundary decision." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Physical arrangement", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Rods or wires with captive elements; grooves with elements; surface with separate counters; other; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Determines recognition evidence, manipulation method and risks of displacement or loss." }, { "name": "Operational orientation", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Recorded working orientation and reading direction; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "A rotated instrument may be misread or may not retain its intended configuration." }, { "name": "Counting positions", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Number of rods, columns, grooves or other independently interpreted positions", "why_it_matters": "Constrains the representation available under the selected convention." }, { "name": "Counting-element inventory", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Element count by position and compartment, compared with an evidenced expected inventory", "why_it_matters": "Missing or misplaced elements can restrict operations or make an apparent value misleading." }, { "name": "Position-to-value convention", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Identified instructions or convention defining element weights, place assignments and activation rules", "why_it_matters": "The same visible arrangement cannot be assigned a value safely without its interpretation rules." }, { "name": "Reference-place assignment", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Designated units position and any fractional, sign or auxiliary positions; unspecified", "why_it_matters": "Establishes the scale and meaning of the represented quantity." }, { "name": "Counting-element configuration", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Position of each element or equivalent unambiguous grouped description; uncertain elements identified", "why_it_matters": "Preserves the observable state separately from the agent's numerical interpretation." }, { "name": "Movement and retention", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Free, resistant, blocked, unstable or untested, recorded by affected location", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether an intended move can be completed and whether the resulting state will persist." }, { "name": "Representational limits", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Range and resolution expressed in the represented quantity's units, conditional on the configured convention", "why_it_matters": "Shows whether a requested calculation or result fits the available positions." }, { "name": "Handling constraints", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Applicable handling instructions, restrictions and their supporting evidence", "why_it_matters": "A readable abacus may still be unsuitable for manipulation, resetting or cleaning." } ], "affordances": [ "Inspect the layout and inventory to establish whether a supported abacus interpretation applies.", "Record the physical configuration and decode it under a stated convention.", "Set or clear a quantity by moving the appropriate elements when handling is permitted.", "Perform or demonstrate arithmetic using a procedure compatible with the instrument's layout.", "Check a completed operation for unintended movement, unresolved carries and representational limits.", "Identify faults and select supported handling or maintenance actions without erasing a configuration that must be preserved." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "britannica-abacus", "title": "abacus. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.", "url": "https://www.britannica.com/technology/abacus", "what_it_supports": "Device definition, East Asian and classical types, and the distinction from a mere counting board.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "wikipedia-abacus", "title": "Abacus. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation.", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus", "what_it_supports": "Inventory of regional types (suanpan, soroban, schoty, Roman), typical bead layouts, and educational/modern use.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "ifrah-universal-history", "title": "The Universal History of Numbers. Georges Ifrah. Harvill Press / John Wiley (English editions).", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Historical development of place-value bead and board calculation and comparison with neighbouring instruments." }, { "id": "needham-scc-vol3", "title": "Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Joseph Needham. Cambridge University Press, 1959.", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Chinese suanpan construction, bead counts, and its place among Chinese calculating instruments." } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "counting-architecture", "name": "Counting architecture", "description": "Establishes what makes this instrument an abacus and how its counting elements are physically organised.", "rationale": "An agent must identify the working counting arrangement before assigning numerical meaning or attempting a move.", "layers": [ { "id": "instrument-recognition", "name": "Instrument recognition", "description": "Tests whether the object provides a usable abacus arrangement.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidenced-abacus-identity", "name": "Evidenced abacus identity", "description": "Record the physical features and available instructions supporting recognition, while retaining uncertainty about replicas, teaching racks and counting boards.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observable features establish an organised arrangement for counting through element positions?", "kind": "definition", "id": "evidenced-abacus-identity-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence distinguishes this object from a decorative rack, bead toy or neighbouring counting device?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "evidenced-abacus-identity-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "element-layout", "name": "Element layout", "description": "Describes the positions, divisions and element inventory that constrain representation.", "findings": [ { "id": "counting-topology-and-inventory", "name": "Counting topology and inventory", "description": "Record the working orientation, ordered positions, compartments and element counts without assuming every position has an identical layout.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many counting positions and compartments are present, and how many elements occupy each?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "counting-topology-and-inventory-q01" }, { "text": "Which dividers, markings or instructions establish orientation and distinguish positions with different roles?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "counting-topology-and-inventory-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "numerical-interpretation", "name": "Numerical interpretation", "description": "Connects observable element positions to quantities through an explicit convention.", "rationale": "A physical configuration alone does not establish element weights, place values or the represented quantity.", "layers": [ { "id": "interpretation-convention", "name": "Interpretation convention", "description": "Establishes activation rules and the assignment of numerical significance.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-value-mapping", "name": "Position-value mapping", "description": "Record which element positions count, their weights and the assignment of units and other places for the current use.", "questions": [ { "text": "Under the selected convention, which positions make an element count, and what value does each contribute?", "kind": "definition", "id": "position-value-mapping-q01" }, { "text": "What supports the selected place assignments, including the units position and any fractional or sign representation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "position-value-mapping-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "configuration-reading", "name": "Configuration reading", "description": "Separates the observed arrangement from its interpreted numerical state.", "findings": [ { "id": "observed-and-interpreted-state", "name": "Observed and interpreted state", "description": "Preserve the element configuration alongside its conditional reading, identifying unclear positions and intermediate calculation states.", "questions": [ { "text": "What element positions are observable, and which cannot be assigned confidently to a counting state?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "observed-and-interpreted-state-q01" }, { "text": "Does this configuration have a settled reading under the selected convention, or is clarification or completion of an operation required?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "observed-and-interpreted-state-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "calculation-and-state-transitions", "name": "Calculation and state transitions", "description": "Describes how a requested numerical change can be realised and checked on this instrument.", "rationale": "Correct arithmetic must be translated into compatible physical moves within the instrument's configured capacity.", "layers": [ { "id": "operation-fit", "name": "Operation fit", "description": "Determines whether the intended operation has a suitable representation and procedure.", "findings": [ { "id": "procedure-and-capacity", "name": "Procedure and capacity", "description": "Identify the requested operation, a compatible method and the positions needed for operands, working states and results.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which procedure is supported for this layout and convention, and what initial configuration does it require?", "kind": "action", "id": "procedure-and-capacity-q01" }, { "text": "Do the available positions accommodate the operands, intermediate states and result at the requested resolution?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "procedure-and-capacity-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "controlled-manipulation", "name": "Controlled manipulation", "description": "Tracks intended moves and establishes when a changed configuration can be accepted.", "findings": [ { "id": "move-and-result-verification", "name": "Move and result verification", "description": "Record the intended transformation and compare the resulting arrangement with it, including required exchanges between positions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which elements must move, and which exchanges or carries does the chosen procedure require?", "kind": "action", "id": "move-and-result-verification-q01" }, { "text": "What observation confirms completion without unintended element movement or an unresolved intermediate state?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "move-and-result-verification-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operability-and-configuration-preservation", "name": "Operability and configuration preservation", "description": "Assesses whether counting elements can be moved reliably and whether the current configuration may be disturbed.", "rationale": "A calculation can fail through a missing element, obstructed movement or accidental displacement, even when its numerical procedure is correct.", "layers": [ { "id": "counting-mechanism-condition", "name": "Counting mechanism condition", "description": "Examines faults that affect movement, readable positions or completeness.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-readability-and-completeness", "name": "Movement, readability and completeness", "description": "Record absent elements, damaged guides or dividers, obstruction and unstable resting positions by their effect on counting.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which elements or guides are missing, damaged, obstructed or unable to retain a distinguishable counting position?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "movement-readability-and-completeness-q01" }, { "text": "Which readings or operations remain reliable given those faults, and which require repair or a different instrument?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "movement-readability-and-completeness-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-preserving-handling", "name": "State-preserving handling", "description": "Determines how to inspect, move, reset or care for the instrument without losing a needed counting state.", "findings": [ { "id": "configuration-and-handling-permission", "name": "Configuration and handling permission", "description": "Establish whether the arrangement must be recorded or preserved and identify handling methods supported for the instrument's construction and condition.", "questions": [ { "text": "Must the current configuration be preserved or recorded before lifting, moving, testing or resetting the abacus?", "kind": "action", "id": "configuration-and-handling-permission-q01" }, { "text": "What instructions or condition evidence support the proposed manipulation, cleaning or repair method?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "configuration-and-handling-permission-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Chinese suanpan (typically two heaven beads and five earth beads per rod; later one-heaven designs also occur)", "Japanese soroban (one heaven bead and four earth beads per rod)", "Russian schoty (ten beads per wire, usually with a colour break around five)", "Roman grooved abacus (loose counters in metal or stone grooves, including fractional uncia positions)", "Classroom 10×10 or 100-bead teaching frame", "Cranmer abacus (tactile, felted, raised-bar frame for blind users)", "Counting-board or dust abacus (lines, a sanded table, or a cloth with loose jetons rather than captive beads)", "Korean jupan and other East Asian 1/5 reformed frames derived from the suanpan" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q12822", "note": "Item for the calculating device." }, { "scheme": "Library of Congress Subject Headings", "value_or_pattern": "Abacus", "note": "Authorized heading for the instrument as a subject." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Course of Study - 珠算 (soroban) as elementary arithmetic content (historically required, later reduced or elective in many settings).", "Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (日本商工会議所) Soroban Proficiency Test (珠算能力検定) - the de facto skill and grading standard, not a product law.", "When sold as a children's toy or classroom manipulative, bead frames fall under toy-safety small-parts rules: ISO 8124 (ISO), ASTM F963 (ASTM International), EN 71 (CEN)." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Shop and market arithmetic among remaining skilled users in parts of East Asia.", "Vocational and competitive soroban practice, including anzan (mental visualisation of the frame) in Japan, Taiwan, and commercial abacus schools in South and Southeast Asia.", "Primary-school number-sense teaching with 100-bead frames and related classroom racks.", "Tactile arithmetic for blind students on the Cranmer frame (American Printing House for the Blind pattern).", "Museum display and experimental reconstruction of Roman and medieval board calculation." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "rod or column count (digit capacity)", "typical_range": "9-27", "unit": "rods" }, { "quantity": "beads per rod", "typical_range": "5 (soroban 1+4), 7 (suanpan 2+5), or 10 (schoty)", "unit": "beads" }, { "quantity": "frame length (desk instrument)", "typical_range": "150-450", "unit": "mm" }, { "quantity": "bead diameter", "typical_range": "8-18", "unit": "mm" }, { "quantity": "mass of a typical wooden desk frame", "typical_range": "100-600", "unit": "g" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Place-value slip: operating one rod left or right of the intended column.", "Heaven-bead error: the 5-unit bead left set or unset, producing a ±5 mistake on that rod.", "Failed carry when a rod saturates and the next column is not incremented.", "Beads jammed by warped rods, dirt, swollen wood, or damaged wire.", "Missing beads after a drop, silently changing a rod's counting modulus.", "Loose or detached beads as a choking hazard in young children.", "Speed-competition misreads rather than mechanical breakage." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "China and the wider Sinosphere: suanpan (算盘), classically 2/5 beads, with later 1/5 reforms.", "Japan: standardised 1/4 soroban (そろばん) and a strong examination culture.", "Korea: historical jupan; modern teaching often follows the Japanese 1/4 layout.", "Russia and the former USSR: horizontal-wire schoty (счёты), used in shops well into the late 20th century.", "Western Europe: medieval counting-cloth or board; today almost only a classroom manipulative (French boulier, German Rechenrahmen).", "South and Southeast Asia: commercial 'abacus education' franchises teaching a soroban-like 1/4 frame." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "counting board with loose jetons", "difference": "Same place-value idea, but counters are not captive on rods or wires and can leave their lines." }, { "name": "rekenrek (arithmetic rack)", "difference": "A 20-bead two-row rack coloured in fives for subitizing and number sense, not a multi-column place-value machine." }, { "name": "slide rule", "difference": "Analog logarithmic scales; it does not represent discrete decimal digits as beads." }, { "name": "electronic calculator", "difference": "Digits are stored electronically, not as spatially embodied bead positions." }, { "name": "quipu", "difference": "A knotted-cord record of quantities, not a sliding calculating frame." }, { "name": "Napier's bones", "difference": "A multiplication lookup on numbered rods, not bead place-value addition." }, { "name": "base-ten blocks or Cuisenaire rods", "difference": "Length or volume manipulatives without a framed rod-and-bead mechanism." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of abacus this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does registry usage include counting boards with loose counters, or reserve abacus for instruments with captive counting elements?", "Which abacus variants and interpretation conventions must this model support, and what authoritative instructions establish their rules?", "What evidence distinguishes an incomplete instrument from an intentional layout with unequal element counts or specialised positions?", "How should observations distinguish an ambiguous element position from a legitimate intermediate calculation state across supported conventions?", "Which construction-specific handling and maintenance guidance is available for the instruments this registry will actually describe?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 9, "findings": 16, "questions": 24 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "device, machine or tool", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a abacus, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an agent to recognise a physical abacus, interpret its configured counting state, assess whether it can be used reliably, and choose appropriate operations or care.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: toy abacus, yupana, Russian abacus, soroban, Banshu soroban.", "5 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 115 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "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 abacus, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "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." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form, by the arrangement of its controls, and by markings - a plate, a model number, a certification mark. Form alone rarely separates two models that do very different things." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "toy abacus", "yupana", "Russian abacus", "soroban", "Banshu soroban" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 115 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 5 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one abacus from another, and a abacus from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a abacus sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a abacus from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a abacus is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a abacus is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a abacus is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a abacus is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "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.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a abacus is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a abacus is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a abacus passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "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.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a abacus between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a abacus, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a abacus is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "function-and-principle", "name": "Function and operating principle", "description": "What abacus is for and how it achieves it.", "rationale": "Two devices with the same name can work on different principles, and the principle is what predicts failure and constrains use.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-function", "name": "Intended function", "description": "The job it does, and the jobs it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-record", "name": "Function, principle and variants", "description": "What it does, how, and which variants do it differently.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-record-q01", "text": "What function does abacus perform, on what operating principle, and which variants differ in that principle?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "function-record-q02", "text": "What use falls outside the intended function but happens in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-rating", "name": "Capacity and rating", "description": "The numbers that say what it can do and where it stops.", "findings": [ { "id": "ratings", "name": "Ratings and their conditions", "description": "Rated capacity, power, throughput and the conditions each assumes.", "questions": [ { "id": "ratings-q01", "text": "What ratings characterise abacus, in what units, and under what stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "ratings-q02", "text": "What happens beyond the rating - degradation, refusal, damage - and how is that detected?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-and-state", "name": "Operation, controls and state", "description": "How abacus is operated and what state it is in right now.", "rationale": "An agent acting on a device needs its current state and the controls that change it, not just its specification.", "layers": [ { "id": "controls-and-modes", "name": "Controls and modes", "description": "What can be set, what that changes, and what is interlocked.", "findings": [ { "id": "control-surface", "name": "Control surface and interlocks", "description": "The settings available and the conditions that block them.", "questions": [ { "id": "control-surface-q01", "text": "What controls and modes does abacus have, and what does each change?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "control-surface-q02", "text": "Which actions are interlocked or forbidden in which state, and what must be true before acting?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-maintenance", "name": "Condition and maintenance", "description": "Wear, service intervals, consumables and the line between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-record", "name": "Condition, service and consumables", "description": "What is consumed, what is serviced, and how condition is judged.", "questions": [ { "id": "service-record-q01", "text": "What consumables and service does abacus need, at what interval, and on whose authority?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "service-record-q02", "text": "What evidence separates a unit that is working from one that is out of service?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "kind-model-unit", "name": "Kind, model and unit", "description": "Whether a claim about abacus is about the kind, a product line, or one physical unit.", "rationale": "This is the boundary most often got wrong for made things, and getting it wrong mixes a catalogue entry with the machine in the yard.", "layers": [ { "id": "level-of-reference", "name": "Level of reference", "description": "The three levels and what belongs at each.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs to kind, model and unit", "description": "Which properties are shared by all of them and which are not.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "Which facts about abacus hold for every one of them, which for a model, and which only for one unit?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifies an individual unit, and what should an agent do when it has only the kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "standards-and-conformity", "name": "Standards and conformity", "description": "The standards a working example must meet and who attests it.", "findings": [ { "id": "conformity", "name": "Standards, marks and attestation", "description": "Which standard applies, who certifies, and what the mark means.", "questions": [ { "id": "conformity-q01", "text": "Which standards govern abacus, issued by whom, and what does conformity actually assert?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "conformity-q02", "text": "What may an agent conclude from a certification mark, and what may it not?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a abacus came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a abacus and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a abacus is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a abacus, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a abacus, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a abacus is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }