INTEGRATION OF FEATURE-BASED AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED DESIGN PARADIGNS FOR PREDICTIVE ADVICE CAPABILITY

A NUMBER OF COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE CAD SYSTEMS ALLOW THE DESIGNER TO REPRESENT A DESIGN ARTIFACT AS A COLLECTION OF FORM FEATURES. HOWEVER, THEIR ABILITY TO RERERESENT DOMAIN-SPECIFIC FEATURES AND DESIGN KNOWLEDGE IS RATHER LIMITED. THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED DESIGN SYSTEMS, ON THE OTHER HAND, OFFER KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION FACILITIES, SUITABLE, IN PARTICULAR, FOR IMPLEMENTING AUTOMATIC PREDICTIONS OF MANUFACTURABILITY. HOWEVER, THEY LACK THE FULL POWER OF CAD SYSTEMS, INCLUDING FORM FEATURES FACILITIES. THIS DOCUMENT PRESENTS A WORK PLAN TO INVESTIGATE AN APPROACH TO AN INTEGRATED TOOL, WHICH INCLUDES A KNOWLEDGE-BASED DESIGN COMPONENT AND A FEATURE-ORIENTED CAD COMPONENT. INTEGRATION OF THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES IS EXPECTED TO ENABLE A QUALITATIVELY NEW STAGE IN DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING METHODOLOGIES, CHARACTERIZED BY FEATURE-BASED DESIGN PROCESS, EXPLICIT CAPTURE OF DESIGN INTENT, AND USE OF MULTIPLE PREDICTIVE KNOWLEDGE BASES EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS. THE FEASIBILITY OF THE APPROACH WILL BE DEMONSTRATED BY EVALUATING A PROTOTYPE AGAINST A SMALL BUT DEMANDING DESIGN EXAMPLES. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - AN INTEGRATED DESIGN TOOL WILL BRING BENEFITS BOTH IN INDUSTRY (IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY, COST AND QUALITY OF DESIGNS) AND IN GOVERNMENT (AUTOMATIC INSPECTION OF PRODUCT COMPLIANCE WITH SPECIFICATIONS AND REGULATIONS). "PLUG-IN" KNOWLEDGE BASES, COVERING DESIGN CODES AND STANDARDS, AND GOVERNMENT SPECIFICATIONS AND REGULATIONS, WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AND AUTOMATICALLY UTILIZED BY MULTIPLE USERS OF THE TOOL.