An approach to functional synthesis of mechanical design Concepts: Theory, applications, and emerging research issues

Abstract

Conceptual design is an early stage in the design process that involves the generation of solution concepts to satisfy the functional requirements of a design problem. Usually, there are many solutions to a design problem; therefore, there is scope for producing improved designs if one could explore a solution space larger than is presently possible. An approach would be to use the computer to synthesize a wide variety of concepts for a given problem, and allow designers to explore these before developing the most promising ones. Adopting a research approach based on developing basic representations, knowledge base, and reasoning procedures adequate for synthesizing concepts of existing devices and mechanisms, a computer program for synthesis of solutions to a class of mechanical design problems has been developed. For a given design problem, the program can produce an exhaustive set of solution concepts, in terms of their topological and spatial configurations, which can then be explored by designers. The program has been tested in two ways: (1) by comparing the candidate solutions produced by the program with those produced by designers in two real design case studies, and (2) by using three experienced designers to evaluate the solutions, generated by the program, for their novelty and usefulness. This paper presents the theoretical basis, research method, the theory and implementation of the synthesis approach. Also, the results of the above case studies and evaluations, and a discussion of further issues highlighted by the evaluations are presented.

Physical Realizations: Transforming into Physical Embodiments of Concepts in the Design of Mechanical Movements

“…This research extends earlier research on a functional synthesis approach that produces a wide variety of abstract concepts to mechanical design problems, which involve transmission and conversion of mechanical forces and motions [15]. For a given design problem, this approach can produce an exhaustive set of concepts in terms of their spatial configurations.…”

“…These are then offered to designers for exploration. This approach has been tested by means of case studies and hands-on experiments involving experienced designers [15]. It was found that the number and variety of solutions generated by using this approach were always larger than those of the designers.…”

DTM at 25: Essays on Themes and Future Directions

“…The variety of functional reasoning approaches (see [111, 112, e.g.] for a summary), the areas within which they are explored (e.g., in product or system architecture by Stone [44], in biologically inspired design [105,113,114,115], in computational synthesis [116,117,118,119,120,121], in design by analogy and analogical reasoning [122,123,96,124,125], and in efficient sharing and search [126,127,128]) are testimony to the prolific research in the area of function. A summary of functional representation approaches can be found in two special issues of AIEDAM [129,130,131], and a summary of major approaches within the other two tasks can be found in [111,132,112].…”

Combinatorial synthesis approach employing graph networks

“…Design synthesis of engineering artifacts has been a significant research area, especially in the fields of structures [4,24,25,9], mechanical systems [26,16,8,6,7], MEMS and VLSI -a good summary of which is available in [1]. Techniques ranging from search algorithms, stochastic and gradient based optimization, evolutionary and genetic algorithms, have been used in combination with discrete and continuum approaches, bond graph methods, graph grammars, design rules and more for the purpose of synthesis of these systems.…”