scholarly journals Constraint-handling techniques for generative product design systems in the mass customization context

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Nordin ◽  
Damien Motte ◽  
Andreas Hopf ◽  
Robert Bjärnemo ◽  
Claus-Christian Eckhardt
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Constraint Handling ◽  
Convergence Time ◽  
Design System ◽  
Weighted Sum ◽  
Sequential Constraint ◽  
Design Systems ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Product Forms

AbstractGenerative product design systems used in the context of mass customization are required to generate diverse solutions quickly and reliably without necessitating modification or tuning during use. When such systems are employed to allow for the mass customization of product form, they must be able to handle mass production and engineering constraints that can be time-consuming to evaluate and difficult to fulfill. These issues are related to how the constraints are handled in the generative design system. This article evaluates two promising sequential constraint-handling techniques and the often used weighted sum technique with regard to convergence time, convergence rate, and diversity of the design solutions. The application used for this purpose was a design system aimed at generating a table with an advanced form: a Voronoi diagram based structure. The design problem was constrained in terms of production as well as stability, requiring a time-consuming finite element evaluation. Regarding convergence time and rate, one of the sequential constraint-handling techniques performed significantly better than the weighted sum technique. Nevertheless, the weighted sum technique presented respectable results and therefore remains a relevant technique. Regarding diversity, none of the techniques could generate diverse solutions in a single search run. In contrast, the solutions from different searches were always diverse. Solution diversity is thus gained at the cost of more runs, but no evaluation of the diversity of the solutions is needed. This result is important, because a diversity evaluation function would otherwise have to be developed for every new type of design. Efficient handling of complex constraints is an important step toward mass customization of nontrivial product forms.

scholarly journals Restart Strategies for Constraint-Handling in Generative Design Systems

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Nordin
Keyword(s):  
Concept Development ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Constraint Handling ◽  
Convergence Time ◽  
Design System ◽  
Generative Design ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Design Systems ◽  
Feasible Solutions

Product alternatives suggested by a generative design system often need to be evaluated on qualitative criteria. This evaluation necessitates that several feasible solutions which fulfill all technical constraints can be proposed to the user of the system. Also, as concept development is an iterative process, it is important that these solutions are generated quickly; i.e., the system must have a low convergence time. A problem, however, is that stochastic constraint-handling techniques can have highly unpredictable convergence times, spanning several orders of magnitude, and might sometimes not converge at all. A possible solution to avoid the lengthy runs is to restart the search after a certain time, with the hope that a new starting point will lead to a lower overall convergence time, but selecting an optimal restart-time is not trivial. In this paper, two strategies are investigated for such selection, and their performance is evaluated on two constraint-handling techniques for a product design problem. The results show that both restart strategies can greatly reduce the overall convergence time. Moreover, it is shown that one of the restart strategies can be applied to a wide range of constraint-handling techniques and problems, without requiring any fine-tuning of problem-specific parameters.

Designing Product Forms Using a Virtual Hand and Deformable Models

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng-Dar Shieh ◽  
Chih-Chieh Yang
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Deformable Models ◽  
Product Form ◽  
Design System ◽  
Input Device ◽  
3D Cad ◽  
Virtual Hand ◽  
Product Form Design ◽  
Industrial Designers ◽  
Product Forms

This paper presents a computer-aided conceptual design system for developing product forms. The system integrates a virtual hand, which is manipulated by the designer, with deformable models representing the product forms. Designers can use gestural input and full hand pointing in the system to discover potential new ways for product form design. In the field of industrial design, styling and ergonomics are two important factors that determine a successful product design. Traditionally, designers explore possible concepts by sketching their ideas and then using clay or foam mock-ups to test them during the early phases of product design. With our deformable modeling simulation system, we provide a useful and efficient tool for industrial designers that enable to produce product form proposals efficiently without unnecessary trial and error. Designers can input pre-scanned 3D raw data or a 3D CAD model as an initial prototype. Then, the input model is given the material’s elastic property via the construction of a volume-like mass-spring-damping system. The virtual hand in the system constantly changes gestures as the designer manipulates it with a glove-based input device. The product form will be deformed or shaped according to the amount of force exerted by the virtual hand. A mesh smoothing feature called “PN-triangle” is also used to improve the appearance of the deformed model. Finally, a physical prototype with volume and weight is generated using a rapid prototyping machine. Designers can use these mock-ups to conduct further ergonomic evaluations.

scholarly journals Strategies for Consumer Control of Complex Product Forms in Generative Design Systems

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Nordin ◽  
Damien Motte ◽  
Robert Bjärnemo
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Design System ◽  
Generative Design ◽  
Full Control ◽  
Total Control ◽  
Consumer Control ◽  
Design Systems ◽  
Product Forms

In recent years, the number of products that can be tailored to consumers’ needs and desires has increased dramatically; there are many opportunities to individualize the colors, materials or options of products. However, current trends indicate that the future consumer will not be satisfied with mere material and color choices, but will desire control over form as well. While it is technically feasible to allow consumers to partially mass-customize the form of products subject to functional and production constraints through the use of a generative design system, the question of how the control of form should be presented to the user arises. The issue becomes especially important when the product form is based on complex morphologies, which require in-depth knowledge of their parameters to be able to control them fully. In this paper, we discuss this issue and present and test two strategies for controlling complex forms in consumer-oriented generative design systems, one offering the user full control over the design (“total control” strategy), while the other automatically generates designs for the user (“no control” strategy). The implementation of those two control strategies in a generative design system for two categories of products (bookshelf and table) and five types of morphologies are described and tested with a number of design interested participants to estimate their level of satisfaction with the two control strategies. The empirical study shows that the participants enjoyed both the total control and no control strategies. The development of the full control modes for the five morphologies was on the other hand not straightforward, and in general, making the controls meaningful to the consumer can be difficult with complex morphologies. It seems that a consumer-oriented generative design system with two different control strategies, as the ones presented in this article, would offer the most satisfaction.

A General Approach to E-Learning Software Development

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Zhang ◽  
Jingxin Li ◽  
Helen Xie ◽  
Zhongzhi Shi
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problem ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Design System ◽  
Web Based ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Software

With the rapid advancement of computing technology, the paradigm of learning has been changed from the classroom environment to the web environment. The support software for e-learning is key to implementing such a web-based learning paradigm. In this paper, a general approach to construct an elearning software system is proposed and described. The approach is based on an analogy between e-learning and mass customization product design. In the case of mass customization product design, customers can participate in a product design and realization process regardless of temporal and spatial restrictions. In the case of e-learning, learners can access a virtual teaching center at any time and at any place. This analogy has further led us to exploit fruitful developments in computer software for mass customization, in particular, a so called web-based configuration design system through the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) approach. This paper discusses both conceptual development and implementation. An illustration is given for implementation.

scholarly journals Study of the Sequential Constraint-Handling Technique for Evolutionary Optimization With Application to Structural Problems

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Motte ◽  
Axel Nordin ◽  
Robert Bja¨rnemo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Constraint Handling ◽  
Weighted Sum ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Weighted Sum Method ◽  
Sequential Constraint ◽  
Engineering Design Problems ◽  
To Receive

Engineering design problems are most frequently characterized by constraints that make them hard to solve and time-consuming. When evolutionary algorithms are used to solve these problems, constraints are often handled with the generic weighted sum method or with techniques specific to the problem at hand. Most commonly, all constraints are evaluated at each generation, and it is also necessary to fine-tune different parameters in order to receive good results, which requires in-depth knowledge of the algorithm. The sequential constraint-handling techniques seem to be a promising alternative, because they do not require all constraints to be evaluated at each iteration and they are easy to implement. They nevertheless require the user to determine the ordering in which those constraints shall be evaluated. Therefore two heuristics that allow finding a satisfying constraint sequence have been developed. Two sequential constraint-handling techniques using the heuristics have been tested against the weighted sum technique with the ten-bar structure benchmark. They both performed better than the weighted sum technique and can therefore be easy to implement, and powerful alternatives for solving engineering design problems.

Process Control Method of Complex Product Multidisciplinary Collaborative Design System

2013 ◽  
Vol 712-715 ◽  
pp. 2888-2893
Author(s):  
Hai Qiang Liu ◽  
Ming Lv
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Design System ◽  
System Control ◽  
Complex Product ◽  
Product Design Process

In order to realize information sharing and interchange of complex product multidisciplinary collaborative design (MCD) design process and resources. The Process integrated system control of product multidisciplinary collaborative design was analyzed firstly in this paper, then design process of complex product for supporting multidisciplinary collaborative was introduced, a detailed description is given of the organization structure and modeling process of MCD-oriented Integration of Product Design Meta-model ; and concrete implement process of process integrated system control method was introduced to effectively realize information sharing and interchange between product design process and resources.

scholarly journals Is the Linear Modeling Technique Good Enough for Optimal Form Design? A Comparison of Quantitative Analysis Models

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang-Cheng Lin ◽  
Chung-Hsing Yeh ◽  
Chen-Cheng Wang ◽  
Chun-Chun Wei
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Modeling Technique ◽  
Type I ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Optimal Form ◽  
Product Image ◽  
Form Design ◽  
Product Forms

How to design highly reputable and hot-selling products is an essential issue in product design. Whether consumers choose a product depends largely on their perception of the product image. A consumer-oriented design approach presented in this paper helps product designers incorporate consumers’ perceptions of product forms in the design process. The consumer-oriented design approach uses quantification theory type I, grey prediction (the linear modeling technique), and neural networks (the nonlinear modeling technique) to determine the optimal form combination of product design for matching a given product image. An experimental study based on the concept of Kansei Engineering is conducted to collect numerical data for examining the relationship between consumers’ perception of product image and product form elements of personal digital assistants (PDAs). The result of performance comparison shows that the QTTI model is good enough to help product designers determine the optimal form combination of product design. Although the PDA form design is used as a case study, the approach is applicable to other consumer products with various design elements and product images. The approach provides an effective mechanism for facilitating the consumer-oriented product design process.

scholarly journals A Short Path Quantum Algorithm for Exact Optimization

Quantum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Algorithm ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Quantum Algorithm ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Weighted Sum ◽  
Natural Hybrid ◽  
Sum Of Products ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Exact Optimization

We give a quantum algorithm to exactly solve certain problems in combinatorial optimization, including weighted MAX-2-SAT as well as problems where the objective function is a weighted sum of products of Ising variables, all terms of the same degree D; this problem is called weighted MAX-ED-LIN2. We require that the optimal solution be unique for odd D and doubly degenerate for even D; however, we expect that the algorithm still works without this condition and we show how to reduce to the case without this assumption at the cost of an additional overhead. While the time required is still exponential, the algorithm provably outperforms Grover's algorithm assuming a mild condition on the number of low energy states of the target Hamiltonian. The detailed analysis of the runtime dependence on a tradeoff between the number of such states and algorithm speed: fewer such states allows a greater speedup. This leads to a natural hybrid algorithm that finds either an exact or approximate solution.

Sustainable Design Method for E- cigarette Products from the International Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1329-1340
Author(s):  
Wang Huajie ◽  
Cheng Jianxin
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Design Method ◽  
New Products ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Design System ◽  
Brand Value ◽  
Design Evaluation ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Cultural Experience

Objectives: Tobacco companies from various countries are facing pressure to participate in global competition. How to improve the products’ quality is important for the tobacco companies. In this study, based on the international perspective, the scale of E-cigarette product design evaluation is established, the brand value and cultural experience are integrated into the design activities, the design quality of the product is improved, and the culture is sustainable develop. Methods: This article constructs a product design system based on culture, experience and brand value perspectives by studying outstanding design brands product characteristics, using interviews and focus groups. This system includes design content in five aspects: value, aesthetics, function, innovation, and cultural experience. It further summarizes 20 design indicators. Using the analytic hierarchy process, the weight of the 20 design indicators is scored to determine the importance of guiding the design project. Results: In order to prove the effectiveness of the design index, combined with actual cases, in the process of designing a local brand of E-cigarette products in China, combined with relevant design indexes, compared with the index differences of international brands, focusing on 20 indexes The index with high weight value has studied the advanced aspects of international brand and completed the design of new products. The new proposal of the product was re-evaluated according to the design indicators. The new proposal has been significantly improved in all aspects. Conclusion: The actual results show that the established design indicators have certain guiding value for the development of new products. These indicators can be used as reference standards for design practice, and can also be used as standards for product design evaluation. They also have a certain value of new product development in other fields.

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