An Entropic Method for Sequencing Discrete Design Decisions

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiradeep Sen ◽  
Farhad Ameri ◽  
Joshua D. Summers

This paper presents a mathematical model for quantifying uncertainty of a discrete design solution and to monitor it through the design process. In the presented entropic view, uncertainty is highest at the beginning of the process as little information is known about the solution. As additional information is acquired or generated, the solution becomes increasingly well-defined and uncertainty reduces, finally diminishing to zero at the end of the process when the design is fully defined. In previous research, three components of design complexity—size, coupling, and solvability—were identified. In this research, these metrics are used to model solution uncertainty based on the search spaces of the variables (size) and the compatibility between variable values (coupling). Solvability of the variables is assumed uniform for simplicity. Design decisions are modeled as choosing a value, or a reduced set of values, from the existing search space of a variable, thus, reducing its uncertainty. Coupling is measured as the reduction of a variable’s search space as an effect of reducing the search space of another variable. This model is then used to monitor uncertainty reduction through a design process, leading to three strategies that prescribe deciding the variables in the order of their uncertainty, number of dependents, or the influence of on other variables. Comparison between these strategies shows how size and coupling of variables in a design can be used to determine task sequencing strategy for fast design convergence.

Author(s):  
Chiradeep Sen ◽  
Farhad Ameri ◽  
Joshua D. Summers

Early stages of engineering design processes are characterized by high levels of uncertainty due to incomplete knowledge. As the design progresses, additional information is externally added or internally generated within the design process. As a result, the design solution becomes increasingly well-defined and the uncertainty of the problem reduces, diminishing to zero at the end of the process when the design is fully defined. In this research a measure of uncertainty is proposed for a class of engineering design problems called discrete design problems. Previously, three components of complexity in engineering design, namely, size, coupling and solvability, were identified. In this research uncertainty is measured in terms of the number of design variables (size) and the dependency between the variables (coupling). The solvability of each variable is assumed to be uniform for the sake of simplicity. The dependency between two variables is measured as the effect of a decision made on one variable on the solution options available to the other variable. A measure of uncertainty is developed based on this premise, and applied to an example problem to monitor uncertainty reduction through the design process. Results are used to identify and compare three task-sequencing strategies in engineering design.


CounterText ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Gordon Calleja

This paper gives an insight into the design process of a game adaptation of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980). It outlines the challenges faced in attempting to reconcile the diverging qualities of lyrical poetry and digital games. In so doing, the paper examines the design decisions made in every segment of the game with a particular focus on the tension between the core concerns of the lyrical work being adapted and established tenets of game design.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 857-871
Author(s):  
Elio Matteo Curcio ◽  
Giuseppe Carbone

AbstractThis paper addresses the design of a novel bionic robotic device for upper limb rehabilitation tasks at home. The main goal of the design process has been to obtain a rehabilitation device, which can be easily portable and can be managed remotely by a professional therapist. This allows to treat people also in regions that are not easily reachable with a significant cost reduction. Other potential benefits can be envisaged, for instance, in the possibility to keep social distancing while allowing rehabilitation treatments even during a pandemic spread. Specific attention has been devoted to design the main mechatronic components by developing specific kinematics and dynamics models. The design process includes the implementation of a specific control hardware and software. Preliminary experimental tests are reported to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed design solution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3249
Author(s):  
Marie C. Gramkow ◽  
Ulrik Sidenius ◽  
Gaochao Zhang ◽  
Ulrika K. Stigsdotter

The work of landscape architects can contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and the associated ‘Leave no one behind’ agenda by creating accessible and health-promoting green spaces (especially goals 3, 10 and 11). To ensure that the design of green space delivers accessibility and intended health outcomes, an evidence-based design process is recommended. This is a challenge, since many landscape architects are not trained in evidence-based design, and leading scholars have called for methods that can help landscape architects work in an evidence-based manner. This paper examines the implementation of a process model for evidence-based health design in landscape architecture. The model comprises four steps: ‘evidence collection’, ‘programming’, ‘designing’, and ‘evaluation’. The paper aims to demonstrate how the programming step can be implemented in the design of a health-promoting nature trail that is to offer people with mobility disabilities improved mental, physical and social health. We demonstrate how the programming step systematizes evidence into design criteria (evidence-based goals) and design solutions (how the design criteria are to be solved in the design). The results of the study are presented as a design ‘Program’, which we hope can serve as an example for landscape architects of how evidence can be translated into design.


Author(s):  
Gwendolyn Rehrig ◽  
Reese A. Cullimore ◽  
John M. Henderson ◽  
Fernanda Ferreira

Abstract According to the Gricean Maxim of Quantity, speakers provide the amount of information listeners require to correctly interpret an utterance, and no more (Grice in Logic and conversation, 1975). However, speakers do tend to violate the Maxim of Quantity often, especially when the redundant information improves reference precision (Degen et al. in Psychol Rev 127(4):591–621, 2020). Redundant (non-contrastive) information may facilitate real-world search if it narrows the spatial scope under consideration, or improves target template specificity. The current study investigated whether non-contrastive modifiers that improve reference precision facilitate visual search in real-world scenes. In two visual search experiments, we compared search performance when perceptually relevant, but non-contrastive modifiers were included in the search instruction. Participants (NExp. 1 = 48, NExp. 2 = 48) searched for a unique target object following a search instruction that contained either no modifier, a location modifier (Experiment 1: on the top left, Experiment 2: on the shelf), or a color modifier (the black lamp). In Experiment 1 only, the target was located faster when the verbal instruction included either modifier, and there was an overall benefit of color modifiers in a combined analysis for scenes and conditions common to both experiments. The results suggest that violations of the Maxim of Quantity can facilitate search when the violations include task-relevant information that either augments the target template or constrains the search space, and when at least one modifier provides a highly reliable cue. Consistent with Degen et al. (2020), we conclude that listeners benefit from non-contrastive information that improves reference precision, and engage in rational reference comprehension. Significance statement This study investigated whether providing more information than someone needs to find an object in a photograph helps them to find that object more easily, even though it means they need to interpret a more complicated sentence. Before searching a scene, participants were either given information about where the object would be located in the scene, what color the object was, or were only told what object to search for. The results showed that providing additional information helped participants locate an object in an image more easily only when at least one piece of information communicated what part of the scene the object was in, which suggests that more information can be beneficial as long as that information is specific and helps the recipient achieve a goal. We conclude that people will pay attention to redundant information when it supports their task. In practice, our results suggest that instructions in other contexts (e.g., real-world navigation, using a smartphone app, prescription instructions, etc.) can benefit from the inclusion of what appears to be redundant information.


2015 ◽  
Vol 809-810 ◽  
pp. 865-870
Author(s):  
Manuela Roxana Dijmărescu ◽  
Dragoș Iliescu ◽  
Marian Gheorghe

Various architectures exposing certain phases of the design process have been developed. A closer analysis of the presented timelines is leading more to postpone the design solution rather than advancing it in the early phases. This paper advances a new architecture for the design process with the main emphasize on the product functional design, based on functional-constructive knowledge stored in databases, and on the principle of selecting design solutions in an incipient phase and developing them during the further design process stages.


Author(s):  
Victoria Zhao ◽  
Conrad S. Tucker

Information is transferred through a process consisting of an information source, a transmitter, a channel, a receiver and its destination. Unfortunately, during different stages of the engineering design process, there is a risk of a design idea or solution being incorrectly interpreted due to the nonlinearity of engineering design. I.e., there are many ways to communicate a single design idea or solution. This paper provides a comprehensive review and categorization of the possible sources of information loss at different stages of the engineering design process. Next, the authors present an approach that seeks to minimize information loss during certain stages of the engineering design process. The paper i) explores design process and dissemination methods in engineering design; ii) reviews prior work pertaining to these stages of the engineering design process and iii) proposes an information entropy metric that designers can utilize in order to quantify information loss at different stages of the engineering design process. Knowledge gained from this work will aid designers in selecting a suitable dissemination solution needed to effectively achieve a design solution.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (23) ◽  
pp. 3011
Author(s):  
Drishti Yadav

This paper introduces a novel population-based bio-inspired meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, called Blood Coagulation Algorithm (BCA). BCA derives inspiration from the process of blood coagulation in the human body. The underlying concepts and ideas behind the proposed algorithm are the cooperative behavior of thrombocytes and their intelligent strategy of clot formation. These behaviors are modeled and utilized to underscore intensification and diversification in a given search space. A comparison with various state-of-the-art meta-heuristic algorithms over a test suite of 23 renowned benchmark functions reflects the efficiency of BCA. An extensive investigation is conducted to analyze the performance, convergence behavior and computational complexity of BCA. The comparative study and statistical test analysis demonstrate that BCA offers very competitive and statistically significant results compared to other eminent meta-heuristic algorithms. Experimental results also show the consistent performance of BCA in high dimensional search spaces. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applicability of BCA on real-world applications by solving several real-life engineering problems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shani Avni

Ismar David was a prolific calligrapher, type designer, graphic designer, and illustrator who also engaged in architectural design and taught calligraphy. He studied applied arts in Berlin, emigrating to Jerusalem in 1932 and to New York in 1952. From the 1930s to the 1990s, he created a wealth of unique designs, most importantly the David Hebrew typeface family. It was the first comprehensive Hebrew typeface family, comprising nine styles that include a true Hebrew italic style and a monolinear style, equivalent to a Latin sans serif. David Hebrew provides an example of how a research-based design process can help negotiate the tension between old and new, leading to an innovative, well-informed design solution. David not only excelled in his groundbreaking approach to Hebrew type design for existing glyphs, but he went a step further, expanding the character set. After David completed the design of his typeface family in 1954, it was partially cast for machine composition by the Intertype Corporation. During that period, David relocated to New York to pursue his creative career.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
Hoger Mahmud Hussen

In this paper the outcome of a project is presented that aims to modify and improve one of the most widely used Augmented Reality tools. Augmented reality (AR), is a fast growing area of virtual reality research. Augmented Reality (AR) is a newly emerging technology by which user’s view of the real world is augmented with additional information from a computer model. ARToolKit is one of the most widely used toolkits for Augmented Reality applications. The toolkit tracks optical markers and overlays virtual objects on the markers. In the current version of the toolkit the overlaid object is stationary or loops regardless of the optical target position, this means that the overlaid object cannot be animated or changed based on the movement of the optical target. The aim is to improve the toolkit, therefore a design solution to modify it were designed and implement so that users can manipulate the position of the overlaid virtual object, through movements of the optical target. The design solution focuses on developing a mathematically based links between the position of the optical target and the overlaid virtual object. To test the solution test cases were developed and the results show that the design solution is effective and the principal idea can be used to develop many applications in different sectors such as education and health.


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