ModiYacht: Intelligent CAD Tool for Parametric, Generative, Attributive and Interactive Modelling of Yacht Hull Forms

Abstract

This work proposes a new design tool called ModiYacht generation of optimal and user-centred yacht hull forms. The proposed system is based on different design modules, namely, parametric, generative, attribute-based, and interactive design. Parametric modelling is performed based on high-level operators, called Shape Modifiers, which uses different quality criteria for generating smooth and feasible designs. Because innovative and creative design is essential to a successful product; therefore, we also bring the benefits of generative design to ModiYacht by introducing a technique called N-TLBO. Instead of a single solution, NTLBO generates a variety of optimal design solutions for users to select a design satisfying their design and performance requirements. Afterwards, design attributes are also developed using machine learning to shorten the communication gap between customers and designers. Designs generated from generative design can also be used to perform interactive design modelling for users to explore a given design space not only based on the performance but also based on their form appearance. For this purpose, ModiYacht uses a space-shrinking technique, which shrinks the design space during optimisation and guides the exploration process to focus the computational efforts on user-preferred regions.