Ai Edam Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing 

About: Ai Edam Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing is an academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Engineering design process & Conceptual design. It has an ISSN identifier of 0890-0604. Over the lifetime, 1014 publications have been published receiving 22988 citations. The journal is also known as: Artificial intelligence for engineering design, analysis and manufacturing & AI EDAM.

Product platform design and customization: Status and promise

Abstract: In an effort to improve customization for today's highly competitive global marketplace, many companies are utilizing product families and platform-based product development to increase variety, shorten lead times, and reduce costs The key to a successful product family is the product platform from which it is derived either by adding, removing, or substituting one or more modules to the platform or by scaling the platform in one or more dimensions to target specific market niches This nascent field of engineering design has matured rapidly in the past decade, and this paper provides a comprehensive review of the flurry of research activity that has occurred during that time to facilitate product family design and platform-based product development for mass customization Techniques for identifying platform leveraging strategies within a product family are reviewed along with metrics for assessing the effectiveness of product platforms and product families Special emphasis is placed on optimization approaches and artificial intelligence techniques to assist in the process of product family design and platform-based product development Web-based systems for product platform customization are also discussed Examples from both industry and academia are presented throughout the paper to highlight the benefits of product families and product platforms The paper concludes with a discussion of potential areas of research to help bridge the gap between planning and managing families of products and designing and manufacturing them

Supporting conceptual design based on the function-behavior-state modeler

Abstract: The relative significance of conceptual design to basic design or detail design is widely recognized, due to its influential roles in determining the product's fundamental features and development costs. Although there are some general methodologies dealing with functions in design, virtually no commercial CAD systems can support functional design, in particular so-called synthetic phase of design. Supporting the synthetic phase of conceptual design is one of the crucial issues of CAD systems with function modeling capabilities. In this paper, we propose a computer tool called a Function-Behavior-State (FBS) Modeler to support functional design not only in the analytical phase but also in the synthetic phase. To do so, the functional decomposition knowledge and physical features in the knowledge base of the modeler, and a subsystem Qualitative Process Abduction System (QPAS) play crucial roles. Modeling scheme of function in relation with behavior and structure and design process for conceptual design in the FBS Modeler are described. The advantages of the FBS Modeler are demonstrated by presenting two examples; namely, an experiment in which designers used this tool and the design of functionally redundant machines, which is a new design methodology for highly reliable machines, as its application.

A functional representation for aiding biomimetic and artificial inspiration of new ideas

Abstract: Inspiration is useful for exploration and discovery of new solution spaces. Systems in natural and artificial worlds and their functionality are seen as rich sources of inspiration for idea generation. However, unlike in the artificial domain where existing systems are often used for inspiration, those from the natural domain are rarely used in a systematic way for this purpose. Analogy is long regarded as a powerful means for inspiring novel idea generation. One aim of the work reported here is to initiate similar work in the area of systematic biomimetics for product development, so that inspiration from both natural and artificial worlds can be used systematically to help develop novel, analogical ideas for solving design problems. A generic model for representing causality of natural and artificial systems has been developed, and used to structure information in a database of systems from both the domains. These are implemented in a piece of software for automated analogical search of relevant ideas from the databases to solve a given problem. Preliminary experiments at validating the software indicate substantial potential for the approach.

A model of the mechanical design process based on empirical data

Abstract: This paper describes the task/episode accumulation model (TEA model) of non-routine mechanical design, which was developed after detailed analysis of the audio and video protocols of five mechanical designers. The model is able to explain the behavior of designers at a much finer level of detail than previous models. The key features of the model are (a) the design is constructed by incrementally refining and patching an initial conceptual design, (b) design alternatives are not considered outside the boundaries of design episodes (which are short stretches of problem solving aimed at specific goals), (c) the design process is controlled locally, primarily at the level of individual episodes. Among the implications of the model are the following: (a) CAD tools should be extended to represent the state of the design at more abstract levels, (b) CAD tools should help the designer manage constraints, and (c) CAD tools should be designed to give cognitive support to the designer.

A review of function modeling: Approaches and applications

Abstract: This work is aimed at establishing a common frame and understanding of function modeling (FM) for our ongoing research activities. A comparative review of the literature is performed to grasp the various FM approaches with their commonalities and differences. The relations of FM with the research fields of artificial intelligence, design theory, and maintenance are discussed. In this discussion the goals are to highlight the features of various classical approaches in relation to FM, to delineate what FM introduces to these fields, and to discuss the applicability of various FM approaches in these fields. Finally, the basic ideas underlying our projects are introduced with reference to the general framework of FM.