INTELLIGENT FEATURE MODELLING LIBRARIES

WE PROPOSE TO USE APPLICATION PROTOTYPING METHODS IN PERFORMANCE OF A SYSTEM DESIGN STUDY TO DEVELOP STANDARDIZED MODEL LIBRARIES OF COMMONLY USED COMPONENTS AND DRAWING SYMBOLS TO BE USED ON THE CADEM GROUP'S INTERGRAPH-CRAY NETWORK. WE REFER SPECIFICALLY TO THE INTERGRAPH ENGINEERING MODELLING SYSTEM (EMS) ON THE MODEL 40 INTERACT WORKSTATION, BUT PORTABILITY TO OTHER HARDWARE WILL BE ASURED AS PART OF OUR SYSTEM DESIGN DISCIPLINE. STANDARD MODELLING PRACTICES ARE NEEDED FOR CREATION OF COMMONLY USED PARTS SUCH AS NUTS, BOLTS, BOSSES, ETC. CURRENTLY, PARTS ARE CONSTRUCTED ANEW AS NEEDED, EVEN IF THEY DIFFER ONLY IN ORIENTATION OR LOCATION FROM PREVIOUSLY DESIGNED PARTS. THIS RESULTS IN A LARGE DUPLICATION OF DESIGN EFFORT. INTELLIGENCE WILL BE APPLIED AT THREE STAGES OF LIBRARY USE: LOADING THE LIBRARY WITH NEW FEATURES, RETRIEVAL OF FEATURES, AND INCORPORATION OF FEATURES INTO A LARGER DESIGN. ALGORITHMS FROM THE MATHEMATICS OF CAD AND AUTOMATED REASONING WILL BE USED.