{ "model": { "rank": 6044, "code": "thing-q190667", "model_id": "vr.tr.slide-rule", "name": "slide rule", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a slide rule, assess its computational and physical readiness, and decide which calculations, checks or handling actions are appropriate.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q190667/", "tier": 2, "score": 63, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "Pickett slide rule", "circular slide rule" ], "aliasCount": 2, "merged": 2, "knownIn": 63, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q190667", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190667", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T11:12:08Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.0114852, "turns": 1, "seconds": 140.2, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 64.1, "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: 01a07b8d-532a-7523-b1e2-4974ddf70aba\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: slide rule\nRegistry id: vr.tr.slide-rule\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA V" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q190667", "registryId": "vr.tr.slide-rule", "name": "slide rule", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q190667/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.slide-rule", "name": "slide rule", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a slide rule, assess its computational and physical readiness, and decide which calculations, checks or handling actions are appropriate.", "definition": "A slide rule is a mechanical analog calculator that represents real-valued functions as lengths on logarithmic and allied scales on a stator, a sliding bar and a cursor, so that multiplication, division, roots, powers and many trigonometric and exponential evaluations are performed by aligning marks rather than by discrete arithmetic.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the slide rule as a physical calculating instrument, including its scale system, relative movement, reading references, supported operations, condition and instrument-specific limits on use.", "in_scope": [ "Identification of linear, circular or other slide-rule configurations", "Scale markings, mathematical relationships and supported calculations", "Relative movement of scales and operation of cursors or other reading references", "Legibility, alignment, mechanical condition and calculation checks", "Instrument-specific handling, adjustment and readiness for use" ], "out_of_scope": [ "General mathematical theory and calculation instruction independent of the instrument", "Electronic calculators, software emulators and their implementation", "Ordinary measuring rulers and dimensional measurement of external objects", "The engineering system or professional decision in which a calculated result is used", "Ownership, market valuation and collection management beyond instrument identification" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Calculations depend on aligning or comparing graduated scales through relative physical movement, rather than merely measuring an external length.", "Scale spacing and labels encode mathematical relationships; establish whether apparent ruler markings are computational scales or only length graduations.", "Distinguish a slide rule from a fixed logarithmic reference scale by identifying the movable scale or reading arrangement used to combine inputs.", "Distinguish a slide rule from an electronic calculator by checking whether the result is read from physical scale alignment rather than electronically computed.", "For a specialised calculating disc or gauge, establish whether its scale relationships and operating method place it within this registry entry." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Instrument configuration", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "linear; circular; other documented configuration; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Determines how scales move, how readings are transferred and which inspection method is appropriate." }, { "name": "Scale inventory", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "observed labels, faces, endpoints, graduation directions and documented mathematical functions", "why_it_matters": "Establishes which calculations the actual instrument supports without inferring capability from appearance alone." }, { "name": "Usable scale extent", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "millimetres along a linear scale or degrees of a circular scale, with the scale identified", "why_it_matters": "Helps assess reading separation and compare the physical extent available for interpolation." }, { "name": "Relative-motion condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "smooth and stable; binding; loose; slipping; seized; untested", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether settings can be made and retained reliably." }, { "name": "Reading-reference arrangement", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "cursor hairline; rotating pointer; fixed index; direct scale comparison; other observed arrangement", "why_it_matters": "Determines how values are aligned and transferred between scales." }, { "name": "Scale and reference legibility", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "readable; locally obscured; worn; ambiguous; unreadable, with affected positions recorded", "why_it_matters": "Identifies operations or ranges that cannot be read confidently." }, { "name": "Alignment discrepancy", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "millimetres, degrees or local graduation fractions at named reference positions", "why_it_matters": "Separates observable misalignment from uncertainty in visual interpolation." }, { "name": "Demonstrated calculation deviation", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "signed absolute or relative deviation for specified inputs, scales and reading conditions", "why_it_matters": "Supports a bounded judgment of computational usability rather than an unsupported accuracy rating." }, { "name": "Magnitude and sign interpretation", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "read directly for the operation; requires external reasoning; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Prevents a scale reading from being mistaken for a complete numerical answer." }, { "name": "Applicable operating documentation", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "identified manual or scale explanation, with evidence that it matches this instrument", "why_it_matters": "Supports interpretation of unfamiliar scales, special marks and permitted adjustments." } ], "affordances": [ "Identify and explain the observed computational scales using matching documentation.", "Set inputs and read approximate results for operations supported by the instrument.", "Transfer a reading between scales using the instrument's cursor, pointer or index arrangement.", "Check alignment and computational behaviour against selected known results.", "Assess whether binding, slipping, damaged markings or reference defects restrict use.", "Recommend documented handling or adjustment steps appropriate to the mechanism and materials." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "wikipedia-slide-rule", "title": "Slide rule. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule", "what_it_supports": "Instrument definition, scale families (Mannheim, Rietz, Darmstadt, duplex, circular, cylindrical), typical sizes, historical use until electronic calculators, and common failure and reading issues.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "cajori-1909", "title": "Cajori, Florian. A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and Allied Instruments. The Engineering News Publishing Company, New York, 1909.", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Origin in logarithmic scales (Oughtred and successors), distinction from sectors and tables, and the early straight versus circular forms." }, { "id": "oughtred-society", "title": "Journal of the Oughtred Society. The Oughtred Society.", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Collector and historian classification of makers, layouts, duplex versus simplex construction, Japanese bamboo-core practice, and celluloid-delamination and warping as known physical failures." } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "instrument-identity", "name": "Instrument identity", "description": "Establishes whether the object is a slide rule and identifies its particular configuration.", "rationale": "An agent must distinguish computational scale mechanisms from measuring rulers and related calculating aids before interpreting markings.", "layers": [ { "id": "computational-identity", "name": "Computational identity", "description": "Examines the physical arrangement that makes the object a calculating instrument.", "findings": [ { "id": "relative-scale-calculation", "name": "Relative scale calculation", "description": "Record evidence that scale alignment or relative movement combines numerical inputs.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which physical scales, indices or pointers move relative to one another to perform a calculation?", "kind": "definition", "id": "relative-scale-calculation-q01" }, { "text": "What distinguishes this object from a measuring ruler, fixed reference scale or neighbouring type of calculating aid?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "relative-scale-calculation-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "configuration-and-documentation", "name": "Configuration and documentation", "description": "Connects the observed instrument to an identifiable layout and applicable instructions.", "findings": [ { "id": "layout-identification", "name": "Layout identification", "description": "Record the configuration, identifying marks and evidence linking documentation to the actual scale layout.", "questions": [ { "text": "Is the instrument linear, circular or another configuration, and which faces carry computational scales?", "kind": "definition", "id": "layout-identification-q01" }, { "text": "Which maker, model or other markings support identification, and what documentation matches the observed scales?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "layout-identification-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "scale-semantics", "name": "Scale semantics", "description": "Describes what the markings mean and which operations their relationships support.", "rationale": "Scale labels and arrangements determine computational capability; the presence of a slide alone does not establish it.", "layers": [ { "id": "scale-functions", "name": "Scale functions", "description": "Interprets each computational scale and its reading conventions.", "findings": [ { "id": "graduation-meaning", "name": "Graduation meaning", "description": "Record observed labels, numerical spans, directions and verified mathematical interpretations.", "questions": [ { "text": "What function, numerical interval and reading direction does each scale represent?", "kind": "definition", "id": "graduation-meaning-q01" }, { "text": "What documentation or checked scale positions support the interpretation of unfamiliar labels and special marks?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "graduation-meaning-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-coverage", "name": "Operation coverage", "description": "Connects available scale combinations to usable operations and their restrictions.", "findings": [ { "id": "supported-scale-pairings", "name": "Supported scale pairings", "description": "Record how particular scales and indices support an operation, including range and interpretation limits.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which scale pairings and index settings support each claimed operation on this instrument?", "kind": "action", "id": "supported-scale-pairings-q01" }, { "text": "Where does an operation require a different index, another scale, or external determination of sign or order of magnitude?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "supported-scale-pairings-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "setting-and-reading-mechanism", "name": "Setting and reading mechanism", "description": "Assesses whether inputs can be positioned, retained and read consistently.", "rationale": "Computational use depends on controlled relative motion and dependable reading references.", "layers": [ { "id": "scale-motion", "name": "Scale motion", "description": "Examines movement through the usable range and stability after setting.", "findings": [ { "id": "setting-stability", "name": "Setting stability", "description": "Record binding, looseness, slipping and interference that affect scale positioning.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the movable member travel through its intended range without binding or unintended disengagement?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "setting-stability-q01" }, { "text": "Does a setting remain stable while the reading reference is moved and the instrument is handled normally?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "setting-stability-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "reading-references", "name": "Reading references", "description": "Examines the indices, hairlines or pointers used to align and transfer readings.", "findings": [ { "id": "reference-integrity", "name": "Reference integrity", "description": "Record missing, displaced, obscured or ambiguous references and their effects on readings.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which references are required for the intended operations, and are they present and clearly readable?", "kind": "definition", "id": "reference-integrity-q01" }, { "text": "When a reference transfers a reading between scales, what discrepancy or viewing-angle sensitivity is observable?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "reference-integrity-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "computational-confidence", "name": "Computational confidence", "description": "Bounds confidence in results using alignment checks, readable resolution and calculation trials.", "rationale": "A plausible-looking scale reading is insufficient evidence that an instrument is suitable for a particular calculation.", "layers": [ { "id": "alignment-and-resolution", "name": "Alignment and resolution", "description": "Assesses agreement at reference positions and the ability to distinguish nearby values.", "findings": [ { "id": "local-reading-limits", "name": "Local reading limits", "description": "Record alignment discrepancies and interpolation limits at identified scale positions.", "questions": [ { "text": "At documented reference settings, how closely do the expected marks agree across the usable scale range?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "local-reading-limits-q01" }, { "text": "Which scale regions have graduation spacing, wear or obstruction that limits reliable interpolation?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "local-reading-limits-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "calculation-validation", "name": "Calculation validation", "description": "Checks representative operations and separates observed performance from assumptions.", "findings": [ { "id": "verified-use-envelope", "name": "Verified use envelope", "description": "Record test inputs, scale choices, expected results, observed readings and the conditions under which use is justified.", "questions": [ { "text": "For known calculations covering the intended operations and scale regions, what deviations and repeated-reading variation are observed?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "verified-use-envelope-q01" }, { "text": "Given those checks and the required result tolerance, which calculations may proceed and which require another method?", "kind": "action", "id": "verified-use-envelope-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-intervention", "name": "Condition and intervention", "description": "Relates material and component condition to continued calculation, handling and adjustment.", "rationale": "Deformation, surface damage and unsuitable interventions can alter the scale relationships on which the instrument depends.", "layers": [ { "id": "calculation-affecting-condition", "name": "Calculation-affecting condition", "description": "Identifies physical defects that compromise scale geometry, movement or reading.", "findings": [ { "id": "functional-damage", "name": "Functional damage", "description": "Record warping, cracks, detached markings, damaged moving members and other defects with their specific computational consequences.", "questions": [ { "text": "What visible deformation or damage affects scale alignment, movement or reading references?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "functional-damage-q01" }, { "text": "Which defects prevent all use, and which restrict only particular scales, positions or operations?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "functional-damage-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "permitted-interventions", "name": "Permitted interventions", "description": "Determines suitable handling and adjustment from the actual construction and supporting instructions.", "findings": [ { "id": "care-and-adjustment-basis", "name": "Care and adjustment basis", "description": "Record the evidence supporting cleaning, adjustment or component replacement and the checks required afterward.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which instructions establish suitable cleaning or adjustment methods for this instrument's materials, markings and mechanism?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "care-and-adjustment-basis-q01" }, { "text": "What intervention is justified by the observed fault, and which alignment and calculation checks must follow it?", "kind": "action", "id": "care-and-adjustment-basis-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": [ "Straight simplex (scales on one face), including the Mannheim, Rietz and Darmstadt layouts", "Straight duplex (scales on both faces, typically with a wraparound or double-hairline cursor)", "Circular slide rules", "Cylindrical and helical rules (Fuller, Thacher, Otis King and similar long-scale instruments)", "Pocket rules (commonly about 5 inch / 12.5 cm scale length) versus desk 10-inch and 20-inch precision rules", "Log-log (LL) scientific rules versus basic student rules with few scales", "Application-specific rules (electrical, chemical, hydraulic, artillery, textile, commercial)", "Classroom demonstration rules (metre-scale teaching instruments)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of slide rule 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": "Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)", "value_or_pattern": "Slide-rule", "note": "Established heading; hyphenated form is the authority string." }, { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "item labelled 'slide rule' in English", "note": "Numeric Q-id not confirmed in this pass; do not treat a guessed Q-number as an identifier." }, { "scheme": "Maker model number", "value_or_pattern": "Vendor-specific strings such as Keuffel & Esser 4080/4081-series, Pickett N-series, Faber-Castell 2/83N, Hemmi model numbers", "note": "These are the identifiers actually used in trade, catalogues and collections; there is no single global product code for the class." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of slide rule 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": [ "No current ISO or IEC product standard governs slide rules as manufactured calculating instruments; the class is obsolete for professional calculation.", "Scale arrangements used in manufacture were de facto conventions (Mannheim, Rietz, Darmstadt), not a single statutory code.", "National instrument standards historically existed in some manufacturing countries (notably JIS in Japan for 計算尺 and DIN practice in Germany for Rechenschieber); exact current designations were not verified in this pass and are not asserted by number." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of slide rule 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": [ "Personal calculating instrument of engineers, scientists, surveyors, architects and military technical officers from the late nineteenth century until pocket electronic calculators displaced it in the early 1970s.", "Used for products, quotients, proportions, roots, powers, trigonometry and logarithms in design offices, field books and examination halls; the user supplied the decimal-point / power-of-ten separately.", "Aviation training still uses circular flight computers that are specialised circular slide rules (time-speed-distance and wind triangle).", "Now encountered mainly as antiques, museum objects, teaching props for logarithms and analog computation, and a specialist collectors' market." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of slide rule 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": "Named scale length (D-scale, typical commercial sizes)", "typical_range": "12.5 (pocket 5-inch), 25 (standard 10-inch), 50 (20-inch precision)", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "Overall instrument length (straight rules)", "typical_range": "about 15-30 for pocket and 10-inch models; about 50-55 for 20-inch", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "Working precision (significant figures readable on a 25 cm logarithmic D-scale)", "typical_range": "about 3 (sometimes a guarded fourth)", "unit": "significant figures" }, { "quantity": "Number of engraved scales", "typical_range": "about 6-10 on a student simplex; 20-30 or more on a duplex log-log rule", "unit": "count" }, { "quantity": "Mass (typical 10-inch wood, bamboo or plastic rule)", "typical_range": "about 50-200", "unit": "g" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of slide rule 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": [ "Order-of-magnitude error: the rule does not track powers of ten; a correct mantissa with a wrong decimal point is the characteristic user failure.", "Reading the wrong scale (A versus C/D, CI versus C, LL versus log) or misplacing the cursor hairline, including parallax.", "Dimensional instability: humidity warping of wood or bamboo; shrinkage, cracking or delamination of celluloid scale facings (a well-known failure of some mid-twentieth-century laminated rules).", "Slide too tight, too loose, or binding; worn or missing cursor; broken or displaced hairline.", "Limited precision (typically three significant figures) treated as if it were exact, then propagated into engineering or navigation results.", "The object itself is not a regulated hazard; harm comes from a trusted miscalculation, not from the instrument as a physical product." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of slide rule 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": [ "English names: slide rule (common), slide-rule (LCSH and some British hyphenation); older 'sliding rule'.", "German Rechenschieber; French règle à calcul; Japanese 計算尺 (keisanjaku); Russian логарифмическая линейка; Chinese 计算尺.", "Layout names travel internationally (Mannheim from France, Darmstadt from Germany) even when the spoken name of the object differs.", "Construction practice differed by maker region: Japanese Hemmi bamboo-core rules; United States mahogany or later plastic with celluloid facings (Keuffel & Esser) and aluminium bodies (Pickett); German Aristo, Nestler and Faber-Castell plastics.", "As a living calculating tool the instrument is globally obsolete; remaining named practice is strongest in aviation (circular flight computers) and in collector communities in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of slide rule 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": "Ruler (measuring scale)", "difference": "A ruler encodes length in a metrological unit; a slide rule's scales encode functions (chiefly logarithms). If aligning two marks computes a product rather than a length, it is a slide rule." }, { "name": "Nomogram (alignment chart)", "difference": "A nomogram is a fixed printed chart read with a straightedge; a slide rule has a moving scale (and usually a cursor). No sliding member means it is not a slide rule." }, { "name": "Mechanical digital calculator (arithmometer, Curta, pinwheel machines)", "difference": "Those machines perform discrete geared addition and related operations and display digits; a slide rule is analog, continuous, and read by interpolation on scales." }, { "name": "Abacus", "difference": "An abacus is a discrete place-value counting frame; a slide rule is a continuous logarithmic analog device." }, { "name": "Aviation flight computer (E6B and similar)", "difference": "It is a specialised circular slide rule for time-speed-distance and wind problems. Treat it as a neighbour when the registry sense is the general engineering slide rule: the test is presence of aviation-specific scales and (usually) circular form rather than a general C/D logarithmic pair as the primary interface." }, { "name": "Sector (proportional compass)", "difference": "A sector is a hinged pair of inscribed legs used with a pair of dividers; a slide rule uses coaxial sliding scales. Related historically, different mechanism." }, { "name": "Printed logarithmic tables", "difference": "Same mathematical method (addition of logarithms), different embodiment: look-up in a book versus mechanical scale alignment." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of slide rule this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Where should this registry entry draw its boundary around specialised calculating discs, cylindrical instruments and other mechanisms using related scale principles?", "Which authoritative references explain scale-label variants and special marks without assuming that similarly labelled scales always have identical conventions?", "What representative calculation checks adequately cover each configuration and scale family?", "How should acceptable reading uncertainty be established for a particular instrument, operator and intended task?", "Which material-specific care and adjustment instructions are supported for the instrument being assessed?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "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 slide rule, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a slide rule, assess its computational and physical readiness, and decide which calculations, checks or handling actions are appropriate.", "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: Pickett slide rule, circular slide rule.", "2 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 63 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 slide rule, 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": [ "Pickett slide rule", "circular slide rule" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 63 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 2 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 slide rule from another, and a slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 slide rule is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a slide rule, 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 slide rule, 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 slide rule 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 } } } }