WIZARD: AN INTELLIGENT ULCE MECHANICAL DESIGN AID

WIZARD IS A PROPOSED INTELLIGENT UNIFIED LIFE CYCLE ENGINEERING (ULCE) MECHANICAL DESIGN AID. WIZARD AUTONOMOUSLY CREATES OPTIMAL DESIGNS OF MECHANICAL PARTS. WIZARD WILL INTERFACE TO A FEATURE BASED MODELING SYSTEM TO GET DESIGN VARIABLES. WIZARD WILL USE A UNIFORM KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION SCHEMA TO REPRESENT PARTS AND THEIR PROPERTIES. SUCH A SCHEMA PERMITS DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS AND EXPERT SYSTEMS TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY ABOUT PARTS AND MATERIALS USED IN THE DESIGN. WIZARD WILL USE BOTH ALGORITHMIC OPTIMIZATION ROUTINES AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HEURISTICS TO OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN. WIZARD WILL INTERACT WITH MECHANICAL DESIGN ENGINEERS TO ACQUIRE AND CODIFY MECHANICAL DESIGN EXPERTISE. THE DESIGN PROCESS USING WIZARD WOULD WORK AS FOLLOWS. THE HUMAN DESIGNER WILL SKETCH OUT DESIGN FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS USING A FEATURE BASED MODELING SYSTEM. WIZARD WILL GLEAN KEY DESIGN VARIABLES AND REQUIREMENTS FROM THE SYSTEM'S DESIGN FILES. WIZARD WILL THEN OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN USING TWO COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES. WHERE POSSIBLE, WIZARD WILL USE OPERATIONS RESEARCH OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS, SUCH AS THOSE USED IN NON-LINEAR PROGRAMMIG, TO OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN OR A PORTION OF IT. WHERE ALGORITHMIC OPTIMIZATION IS NOT FEASIBLE, WIZARD WILL USE ITS KNOWLEDGE BASE TO HEURISTICALLY OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN. PHASE I WILL DEFINE THE DESIGN VARIABLES, CONSTRAINT EQUATION TYPES, AND OBJECTIVE FUNCTIONS WHICH PERTAIN TO TYPICAL AIR FORCE MECHANICAL DESIGNS. PHASE I WILL IDENTIFY THE LIFE CYCLE FACTORS WHICH MUST BE CONSIDERED IN CHOOSING AN OPTIMAL DESIGN. PHASE I WILL DESCRIBE THE INTERFACES BETWEEN THE FEATURE BASED MODELING SYSTEM, THE OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS, AND THE HEURISTIC KNOWLEDGE BASE. PHASE I WILL SHOW A PROTOTYPE PROOF OF CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION.