THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AN EARLY ASSESSMENT, AS WELL AS DIRECT EXPERIENCE, IN USING AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO ACT AS AN INTELLIGENT INTERFACE BETWEEN EXISTING COMPUTATIONAL PROGRAMS USED IN CONCEPTUAL AIRCRAFT DESIGN AND THE REQUESTER OF AIRCRAFT DESIGN

THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AN EARLY ASSESSMENT, AS WELL AS DIRECT EXPERIENCE, IN USING AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO ACT AS AN INTELLIGENT INTERFACE BETWEEN EXISTING COMPUTATIONAL PROGRAMS USED IN CONCEPTUAL AIRCRAFT DESIGN AND THE REQUESTER OF AIRCRAFT DESIGN INFORMATION. THE INTENDED SYSTEM WILL GENERATE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA OR MISSION REQUIREMENTS AND RETURN TO THE REQUESTER THE POTENTIAL CONCEPTS WHICH MATCH THE MINIMUM PERFORMANCE FRITERIA AND WHICH WERE CONSTRAINED BY SPECIFIED AND UNSPECIFIED LIMITS. THE UNSPECIFIED LIMITS WILL COME FROM RULES DEVELOPED FROM INTERVIEWS AND DISCUSSIONS WITH EXPERTSIN AERONAUTICS. THE EXPERT SYSTEM WOULD GENERATE SEARCHES AND ARCHIVE RESULTS TO A DATA BASE OF SHAPES APPROPRIATE FORCATEGORIES OF MISSIONS AND PERFORMANCE. THE EXPERT SYSTEM WILL ALERT THE OPERATOR TO NEW AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS SUGGESTING FURTHER EXPLORATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE SYSTEM WILL CONDUCT "WHAT IF..." SEARCHES ON ITS OWN TO EXPAND THE BREADTH OF THE CONCEPT EVALUATED. AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE RESEARCH IS TO ASSESS THE EXTENT THAT ANY OF THE "WHAT IF..." DESIGNS ARE TRULY INNOVATIVE OR USEFUL. A COLLATERAL GOAL IS TO EVALUATE SPECIALIZED AND AVAILABLE CO-PROCESSOR BOARDS THAT MAY OFFER ORDER OF MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESENTLY TIMECONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE CALCULATIONS AND INFERENCE RESOLUTIONS.