Abstractions, Design Views and Focusing

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Hoover ◽  
James R. Rinderle
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Object Representation ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Polynomial Equations ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Design Representation ◽  
Design Variables ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Basic Approaches ◽  
Mechanical Design Problem

Abstract Abstractions serve to reduce the complexity of the design process by providing a simple yet still useful representation of the design. Abstractions change one or all of the focus, resolution and accuracy of the design representation. Focusing abstractions direct the designer’s attention to fundamental relationships amongst design variables and requirements. The process of forming focusing abstractions incorporates the design relations and variables that are of concern to the designer, while mitigating the complexity of the resulting design view for the designer. The complexity is minimized by reducing the number of variables and relations considered simultaneously. This is done in a manner which allows the designer to determine the need for further refinements in configuration, to make parametric decisions, and to identify critical design relationships. The appropriate use of focusing abstractions can improve both the design process and the final design. Several basic approaches to creating focusing abstractions are described and one method, based upon Gröbner Bases, is developed in detail. This method is appropriate for a design object representation consisting of parametric constraints represented as sets of polynomial equations. This approach is demonstrated within the context of a sample electro-mechanical design problem, a cordless screwdriver.

A Knowledge Base Data Representation for Collaborative Mechanical Design

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Nagy ◽  
David G. Ullman ◽  
Thomas G. Dietterich
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Data Representation ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Base System ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Design Information ◽  
Final Design

Abstract Collaborative design projects place additional burdens on current design documentation practices. The literature on group design has repeatedly documented the existence of problems in design decision making due to the unavailability of design information. This paper describes a data representation developed for collaborative mechanical design information. The data representation is used to record the history of the design as a sequence of design decisions. The resulting knowledge base records the final specifications, the alternatives which were considered during the design process, and the designers’ rationale for choosing the final design parameters. It is currently used in a computerized knowledge base system under development by the Design Process Research Group (DPRG), at the authors’ institution (OSU).

Development of an Umbrella Checkout System: A Case Study of a Senior Capstone Design Project

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Fuge ◽  
Ben D. Berkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Markov Models ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Tracking System ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Check System ◽  
Product Realization ◽  
Capstone Design

Senior capstone design classes allow for both a theoretical and physical basis for learning the principles of the product realization process. By providing an example of the design process for a senior capstone project studied at Carnegie Mellon University, this work highlights insights gained about both the mechanical design process and the product itself. The product studied in this work is an umbrella check system that utilizes Radio Frequency Identification to create a tracking system for a communal resource. The product itself represents a departure from umbrellas as a personal item into use as common good within a community, which has important economic and environmental effects. This work will highlight the various product realization processes that took place in order to translate the product from a user need to a final design, including a traffic analysis based on Markov Models and the construction of several prototypes.

scholarly journals Functional Trade-offs in the Mechanical Design of Integrated Products - Impact on Robustness and Optimisability

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3491-3500
Author(s):  
Nökkvi S. Sigurdarson ◽  
Tobias Eifler ◽  
Martin Ebro
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Lead Time ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Functional Design ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Final Design ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Geometric Variation ◽  
Sweet Spots

AbstractIt is generally accepted in industry and academia that trade-offs between functional design objectives are an inevitable factor in the development of mechanical systems. These trade-offs can have a large influence on the achievable robustness and performance of the final design, with many products only functioning in narrow sweet-spots between different objectives. As a result, the design process of multi- functional products can be prolonged when designers concurrently attempt to find sweet-spots between a number of potentially interdependent trade-offs. This paper will show that designers only have six different approaches available when attempting to manage a trade-off while trying to ensure robustness and a sufficient performance. These fall within one of three categories; accept, optimise, or redesign. Selecting the wrong approach, can result in consequences downstream which can be difficult to predict, amongst others a lack of robustness to geometric variation, constrained performance, and long development lead time. This points to a substantial potential in the synthesis of design methods that support the identification and management of trade-offs in early product development.

The design of modular oil tank: A new design process model

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Li ◽  
Xingsheng Jiang ◽  
Jingye Li ◽  
Yadong Zhao ◽  
Xuexing Li
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Reference Value ◽  
Fuel Tank ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Design Time ◽  
Design Process Model

Background: In the whole design process of modular fuel tank, there are some unreasonable phenomena. As a result, there are some defects in the design of modular fuel tank, and the function does not meet the requirements in advance. This paper studies this problem. Objective: Through on-the-spot investigation of the factory, a mechanical design process model is designed. The model can provide reference for product design participants on product design time and design quality, and can effectively solve the problem of low product design quality caused by unreasonable product design time arrangement. Methods: After sorting out the data from the factory investigation, computer software is used to program, simulate the information input of mechanical design process, and the final reference value is got. Results: This mechanical design process model is used to guide the design and production of a new project, nearly 3 months ahead of the original project completion time. Conclusion: This mechanical design process model can effectively guide the product design process, which is of great significance to the whole mechanical design field.

Bringing Ergonomics to the Design of a Behavioural Care Unit

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 8-11
Author(s):  
Jacqueline B. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Iterative Process ◽  
User Needs ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Early Design ◽  
Design Changes ◽  
Final Design ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost

The application of ergonomics is important when considering the built environment. In order to create an environment where form follows function, a detailed understanding of the tasks performed by the individuals who will live and work in the facility is required. Early involvement in the project is key to maximizing the benefit of ergonomics. At Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, this early intervention was embraced during the design process of a behavioural care unit for aggressive patients. The ergonomist was involved in three phases of design; user needs analysis, block schematics and detailed design. The user needs and characteristics were established using a combination of focus groups, interviews, direct observation, task analysis and critique of current working environments. The challenge was to present the information to the design team in a useful manner. The format chosen was a modification of Userfit (Poulson 1996) that outlined the various characteristics of the patient group and the design consequences with “what does this mean for me” statements. During the block schematics phase an iterative design process was used to ensure that the ergonomic principles and the user needs were incorporated into the design. Ergonomic input was used in determining the room sizes and layout and to ensure work processes were considered. Simple mock-ups and anthropometric data assisted in illustrating the need for design changes. Examples that highlight the areas of greatest impact of ergonomic intervention include the patient bathrooms, showers and tub room. Significant changes were made to the design to improve the safety of the work and living space of the end users. One of the greatest challenges was having an appreciation for the individual goals of the team members. Ensuring there was adequate space for equipment and staff often resulted in recommendations for increased space. This in turn would increase the cost of the project. The architect and, later in the project, the engineer had goals of bringing the project in on budget. The final design was very much a team effort and truly die result of an iterative process. The sum of the individual contributions could not match the combined efforts. It was only through the ergonomic contributions in this early design phase that the needs of the staff, patients and families could be so well represented. The success of the iterative process provides the foundation for bringing ergonomics considerations into the early design stages of future projects.

Multi-Objective Optimization of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Martz ◽  
W. L. Neu
Keyword(s):  
Design Space ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle ◽  
Underwater Vehicle ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Single Measure ◽  
Design Variables ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Undersea Vehicle ◽  
Hierarchy Process

AbstractThe design of complex systems involves a number of choices, the implications of which are interrelated. If these choices are made sequentially, each choice may limit the options available in subsequent choices. Early choices may unknowingly limit the effectiveness of a final design in this way. Only a formal process that considers all possible choices (and combinations of choices) can insure that the best option has been selected. Complex design problems may easily present a number of choices to evaluate that is prohibitive. Modern optimization algorithms attempt to navigate a multidimensional design space in search of an optimal combination of design variables. A design optimization process for an autonomous underwater vehicle is developed using a multiple objective genetic optimization algorithm that searches the design space, evaluating designs based on three measures of performance: cost, effectiveness, and risk. A synthesis model evaluates the characteristics of a design having any chosen combination of design variable values. The effectiveness determined by the synthesis model is based on nine attributes identified in the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Master Plan and four performance-based attributes calculated by the synthesis model. The analytical hierarchy process is used to synthesize these attributes into a single measure of effectiveness. The genetic algorithm generates a set of Pareto optimal, feasible designs from which a decision maker(s) can choose designs for further analysis.

On Integration of Additive Manufacturing During the Design and Development of a Rehabilitation Robot: A Case Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaci E. Madden ◽  
Ashish D. Deshpande
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Rehabilitation Robotics ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Rehabilitation Robots ◽  
Time Optimization ◽  
Hand Exoskeleton

The field of rehabilitation robotics has emerged to address the growing desire to improve therapy modalities after neurological disorders, such as a stroke. For rehabilitation robots to be successful as clinical devices, a number of mechanical design challenges must be addressed, including ergonomic interactions, weight and size minimization, and cost–time optimization. We present additive manufacturing (AM) as a compelling solution to these challenges by demonstrating how the integration of AM into the development process of a hand exoskeleton leads to critical design improvements and substantially reduces prototyping cost and time.

A model of the mechanical design process based on empirical data

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Ullman ◽  
Thomas G. Dietterich ◽  
Larry A. Stauffer
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
Cad Tools ◽  
Design Alternatives ◽  
Key Features

This paper describes the task/episode accumulation model (TEA model) of non-routine mechanical design, which was developed after detailed analysis of the audio and video protocols of five mechanical designers. The model is able to explain the behavior of designers at a much finer level of detail than previous models. The key features of the model are (a) the design is constructed by incrementally refining and patching an initial conceptual design, (b) design alternatives are not considered outside the boundaries of design episodes (which are short stretches of problem solving aimed at specific goals), (c) the design process is controlled locally, primarily at the level of individual episodes. Among the implications of the model are the following: (a) CAD tools should be extended to represent the state of the design at more abstract levels, (b) CAD tools should help the designer manage constraints, and (c) CAD tools should be designed to give cognitive support to the designer.

Yacht Design with Computers: New Methods for New Tools

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
George S. Hazen ◽  
Steve Killing
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Preliminary Design ◽  
Original Design ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Design Office ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Cad Cam

From the perspective of the design office, this paper examines the manner in which computers are streamlining and changing the design process for today's sailing yachts. Starting with preliminary design and progressing through the more detailed aspects of final design, the computer's varying roles in the design process are traced with examples drawn from currently implemented programs. In addition to its customary role as a bookkeeper, the computer's remarkable graphics capabilities are highlighted. The authors offer a glimpse of what programs and hardware tomorrow's yacht designer will use as frequently as his curves and battens. The paper covers such subjects as design follow-up, sailing analysis and feedback into the original design process. Since designers are not the only ones to benefit from the computer revolution, the authors have included sections on computer generated sailing aids for the yachtsman and possible CAD/CAM applications for the boatbuilder.

An Extensible Computer Environment for Modeling and Analysis in Mechanical Design

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Mashburn ◽  
D. C. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Modeling And Analysis ◽  
Computer Environment ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Generic Component

Abstract This paper investigates a computer environment approach for the exploration of design behavior in the mechanical design process. Generic component types and behavior modelers are developed based on the needs of mechanical designers and are represented in a computer environment. Built-in component types and physical behaviors are also developed. Extension can then occur as needed during design refinement. The resulting system can support exploration and knowledge refinement during design.

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