A Design Process Model With Multiple Design Object Models

Abstract

Abstract An intelligent CAD system is not merely a set of intelligent design tools, but rather it must be an intelligent, integrated design environment. This requests it must be equipped with a large scale knowledge base in which design knowledge is intensively and systematically stored. To do so, design knowledge must be systematically formalized, made computable, and organized. The present paper investigates fundamental issues of systematization of design knowledge. Design knowledge has two categories; i.e., design object knowledge and design process knowledge. In our previous reports, we have formalized a computable design process model to represent design process knowledge and the concept of metamodel dealing with multiple design object models. This paper proposes a framework to achieve harmonized combination of these two. In this framework, the computable design process model navigates the metamodel mechanism to generate and modify models of the design object. We describe a prototype system and illustrate an example of ship design.