scholarly journals The Formal Modeling Of Engineering Design Information By Means Of An Axiomatic System

Author(s):  
Filippo Salustri

<div>There is mounting evidence in the current literature which suggests that our collective understanding of engineering design is insufficient to support the continued growth of the engineering endeavor. Design theory is the emergent research field that addresses this problem by seeking to improve our understanding of, and thus our ability to, design. The goal of this author's work is to demonstrate that formal techniques of logic can improve our understanding of design. Specifically, a formal system called the Hybrid Model (HM) is presented; this system is a set-theoretic description of engineering design information that is valid independent of (a) the processes that generate or manipulate the information and (b) the role of the human designer. Because of this, HM is universally applicable to the representation of design-specific information throughout all aspects of the engineering enterprise. The fundamental unit in HM is a design entity, which is defined as a unit of information relevant to a design task. The axioms of HM define the structure of design entities and the explicit means by which they may be rationally organized. HM provides (a) a basis for building taxonomies of design entities, (b) a generalized approach for making statements about design entities independent of how the entities are generated or used, and (c) a formal syntactic notation for the standardization of design entity specification. Furthermore, HM is used as the foundation of DESIGNER, an extension to the Scheme programming language, providing a prototype-based object-oriented system for the static modeling of design information. Objects in the DESIGNER language satisfy the axioms of HM while providing convenient programming mechanisms to increase usability and efficiency. Several design-specific examples demonstrate the applicability of DESIGNER, and thus of HM as well, to the accurate representation of design information. </div>

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Salustri

<div>There is mounting evidence in the current literature which suggests that our collective understanding of engineering design is insufficient to support the continued growth of the engineering endeavor. Design theory is the emergent research field that addresses this problem by seeking to improve our understanding of, and thus our ability to, design. The goal of this author's work is to demonstrate that formal techniques of logic can improve our understanding of design. Specifically, a formal system called the Hybrid Model (HM) is presented; this system is a set-theoretic description of engineering design information that is valid independent of (a) the processes that generate or manipulate the information and (b) the role of the human designer. Because of this, HM is universally applicable to the representation of design-specific information throughout all aspects of the engineering enterprise. The fundamental unit in HM is a design entity, which is defined as a unit of information relevant to a design task. The axioms of HM define the structure of design entities and the explicit means by which they may be rationally organized. HM provides (a) a basis for building taxonomies of design entities, (b) a generalized approach for making statements about design entities independent of how the entities are generated or used, and (c) a formal syntactic notation for the standardization of design entity specification. Furthermore, HM is used as the foundation of DESIGNER, an extension to the Scheme programming language, providing a prototype-based object-oriented system for the static modeling of design information. Objects in the DESIGNER language satisfy the axioms of HM while providing convenient programming mechanisms to increase usability and efficiency. Several design-specific examples demonstrate the applicability of DESIGNER, and thus of HM as well, to the accurate representation of design information. </div>


Author(s):  
F. A. Salustri ◽  
R. D. Venter

Abstract Recent research in Design Theory and Methodology has sought to formalize the engineering design process without particular concern for the paradigm used to model design information. The authors propose that no correct formalization of the design process can be achieved without first formalizing the semantics of the information used in the process. To this end, the authors present a new theory meant to formalize the semantics of design information that is independent of its use in a design process. Using symbolic logic, the theory is presented as a set of axioms, and draws from the object orientation and hypertext paradigms. Design entities are modeled by formal units called objects, and are related by formal structures called links. Abstraction mechanisms relevant to design are formalized and the role of constraints is explored. The hybrid model is meant not only to aid in the study of the design process itself, but also to improve communications between designers, assist standardization of design specifications, and develop new, powerful software tools to aid the designer in his work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
Ja. O. Petik

The connection of the modern psychology and formal systems remains an important direction of research. This paper is centered on philosophical problems surrounding relations between mental and logic. Main attention is given to philosophy of logic but certain ideas are introduced that can be incorporated into the practical philosophical logic. The definition and properties of basic modal logic and descending ones which are used in study of mental activity are in view. The defining role of philosophical interpretation of modality for the particular formal system used for research in the field of psychological states of agents is postulated. Different semantics of modal logic are studied. The hypothesis about the connection of research in cognitive psychology (semantics of brain activity) and formal systems connected to research of psychological states is stated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Anastasia Tzioutziou ◽  
Yiannis Xenidis

The continuous growth of cities brings out various concerns for improved development and management of the multifaceted urban systems, including those of resilience and smartness. Despite the many significant efforts in the research field, both notions remain changeable, thus retaining the lack of commonly accepted conceptual and terminological frameworks. The paper’s research goals are to designate the current direct and indirect links in the conceptualizations and research trends of the resilience and smart city frameworks and to prove the potential of the conceptual convergence between them in the context of urban systems. The application of a semi-systematic literature review, including bibliometric evidence and followed by content analysis, has led to the observation that as the resilience discourse opens up to embrace other dimensions, including technology, the smart city research turns its interest to the perspective of urban protection. Therefore, both concepts share the goal for urban sustainability realized through specific capacities and processes and operationalized with the deployment of technology. The paper’s findings suggest that the conceptual and operational foundations of these two concepts could support the emergence of an integrated framework. Such a prospect acknowledges the instrumental role of the smart city approach in the pursuit of urban resilience and unfolds a new model for sustainable city management and development.


Author(s):  
Vito Cantisani ◽  
Nicola Di Leo ◽  
Emanuele David ◽  
Dirk-André Clevert

AbstractIn recent years, the implementation of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in clinical practice has opened new horizons in the arterial pathologies research field, since this technique is able to supply new sets of data that can be crucial in patient management. The main applications of CEUS in the arterial system are the detection, characterization, and follow-up of carotid plaques and endoleaks after EVAR. Other situations in which CEUS was demonstrated to be a useful tool are large vessel vasculitis, dissections, and untreated aneurysms. In carotid atherosclerosis CEUS is not only able to acquire quantitative data about stenosis but also to perform a qualitative assessment of the plaque. The most important plaque features that CEUS is able to depict are ulceration, neovascularization, and the presence of inflammatory infiltrates. All of these factors contribute to plaque vulnerability. Thus, CEUS is crucial in order to allow better risk stratification and management of patients. In follow-up after EVAR, CEUS shows sensitivity and specificity values similar to CTA while ensuring several advantages, such as lower cost and the absence of ionizing radiation and nephrotoxic agents. Moreover, CEUS is able to offer real-time evaluation of endoleaks and thus is a useful tool in cases that are ambiguous on CTA. Most limitations are patient-related and are the same as in all other ultrasound techniques, such as high BMI and meteorism.


Author(s):  
Chunlong Wu ◽  
Benjamin Ciavola ◽  
John Gershenson

Function-based design is the traditional approach in engineering design theory, proving useful and practical in many cases but showing limitations in others. Affordance-based design is an alternative approach that attempts to address some of function theory’s limitations by focusing attention on the interactions between systems. This paper compares function-based design with affordance-based design by examining their philosophies, tools, abilities, and suitability along a number of dimensions. We conclude that the approaches are compatible and suggest future work to realize their integration.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document