A Blackboard-Based Architecture for Modular Product Design

A blackboard-based architecture is developed for modular product design for the implementation of concurrent engineering. This proposed approach adopts blackboard-based techniques including blackboard, knowledge sources, agents and control module. The Workflow Automation through Agent-Based Reflective Processes (WARP) approach is used to collect the requirements and to build this model for the product development. This WARP approach entails an agent-based architecture that supports the bottom-up configuration, reconfiguration, and workflow-based services of reusable distributed design for X. Furthermore, a prototype system is created on Java, Jess and Jade platform. A specific case of bicycle part design is studied through the use of prototype system to prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the model. The blackboard-based architecture shows to take lesser time and cost in evolutionary cooperative and concurrent product design. It will greatly enhance the capability of companies to satisfy the diverse customer requirements.

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Agent-based product design and planning for distributed concurrent engineering

Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065) ◽

10.1109/robot.2000.845140 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

J. Sun ◽

Y.F. Zhang ◽

A.Y.C. Nee

Keyword(s):

Product Design ◽

Concurrent Engineering ◽

Agent Based

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Productivity of product design and engineering processes

International Journal of Operations & Production Management ◽

10.1108/ijopm-03-2013-0101 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 458-486 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Johannes Hinckeldeyn ◽

Rob Dekkers ◽

Jochen Kreutzfeldt

Keyword(s):

Product Design ◽

Delphi Study ◽

Empirical Work ◽

Customer Requirements ◽

Productivity Improvement ◽

Content Type ◽

Systematic Overview ◽

Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽

High Degree ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose – Maintaining and improving productivity of product design and engineering processes has been a paramount challenge for design-driven companies, which are characterised a high degree of development of products and processes in order to meet particular customer requirements. Literature on this issue is fragmented and dispersed and a concise and systematic overview is lacking. Hence, it remains unclear, which methods are applicable for design-driven companies to improve the productivity of limitedly available engineering resources (a challenge companies and nations face currently). The purpose of this paper is to develop such a systematic overview. Design/methodology/approach – An unusual approach was utilised by combining the outcomes from a systematic literature review and the results of a Delphi study. From both research approaches complementary and overlapping methods for improving the productivity of product design and engineering processes could be drawn. Findings – The unique systematic overview presents 27 methods to increase the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of product design and engineering processes of design-driven companies. Moreover, the study finds that methods for improving effectiveness are preferred over methods for improving efficiency and that limitations with regard to the availability of resources are often not considered. Research limitations/implications – During the development of the systematic overview, a lack of empirical evidence to assess the actual impact of productivity improvement methods was discovered. This shortcoming demonstrates the need for more conceptual and empirical work in this domain. More studies are needed to test and confirm the usefulness of the proposed methods. Practical implications – Nevertheless, design-driven companies, which struggle to increase the productivity of their product design and engineering processes, can systematically select improvement methods from the overview according to their impact on productivity, effectiveness and efficiency. However, companies should keep in mind, whether effectiveness of product design and engineering can really be increased without considering limitations in engineering resources. Originality/value – Therefore, the systematic overview provides a valuable map of the unexplored territory of productivity improvement methods for product design and engineering for both practitioners and researchers. For the latter ones, it creates directions for empirical investigations in order to explore and to compare methods for the improvement of productivity of product design and engineering processes.

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Agent-Based Training of Distributed Command and Control Teams

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e577542012-010 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joseph Cohen ◽

Andrew Imada

Keyword(s):

Command And Control ◽

Agent Based ◽

And Control

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An agent-based web services solution to collaborative product design

10.1117/12.571581 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

Chun-Che Huang ◽

Tzu-Laing (. Tseng ◽

Yongjin Kwon ◽

Yen Yi Chou

Keyword(s):

Web Services ◽

Product Design ◽

Agent Based ◽

Collaborative Product Design

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Simulation Model of Crowd Evacuation Navigation in a Multi-Obstacle Environment

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198120971264 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 036119812097126

Author(s):

Zhongrui Ni ◽

Zhen Liu ◽

Tingting Liu ◽

Yanjie Chai ◽

Cuijuan Liu

Keyword(s):

Simulation Model ◽

Simulation Experiment ◽

Control Algorithms ◽

Prototype System ◽

Evacuation Simulation ◽

Agent Based ◽

Crowd Management ◽

Navigation Simulation ◽

Local Navigation ◽

Crowd Evacuation

The simulation of a crowd evacuating public buildings can be an important reference in planning the layout of buildings and formulating evacuation strategies. This paper proposes an agent-based crowd model; a crowd evacuation navigation simulation model is proposed for the multi-obstacle environment. We introduce the concept of navigation factor to describe the proximity of the navigation point to the exit. An algorithm for creating navigation points in multi-obstacle environment is proposed along with the global navigation and local navigation control algorithms of the crowd. We construct a crowd evacuation simulation prototype system with different simulation scenes using the scene editor. We conduct the crowd evacuation simulation experiment in the multi-obstacle scene, recording and analyzing the relevant experimental data. The simulation prototype system can be used to derive the evacuation time of the crowd and analyze the evacuation behavior of the crowd. It is expected to provide a visual deduction method for crowd management in an evacuation emergency.

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Developing Pandemic Prevention and Control by ANP-QFD Approach: A Case Study on Urban Furniture Design in China Communities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052653 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2653

Author(s):

Jing Liu ◽

Khairul Manami Kamarudin ◽

Yuqi Liu ◽

Jinzhi Zou

Keyword(s):

Product Design ◽

Prevention And Control ◽

Quality Function Deployment ◽

Modern Society ◽

Analytic Network Process ◽

Easy Access ◽

Human Beings ◽

Furniture Design ◽

Design Strategies ◽

And Control

Background: An infectious disease can affect human beings at an alarming speed in modern society, where Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a worldwide pandemic, posing grave threats to public security and the social economies. However, as one of the closest attachments of urban dwellers, urban furniture hardly contributes to pandemic prevention and control. Methods: Given this critical challenge, this article aims to propose a feasible solution to coping with pandemic situations through urban furniture design, using an integrated method of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Analytic Network Process (ANP). Eight communities in China are selected as the research sites, since people working and living in these places have successful experience preventing and containing pandemics. Results: Three user requirements (URs), namely, usability and easy access, sanitation, and health and emotional pleasure, are determined. Meanwhile, seven design requirements (DRs) are identified, including contact reduction, effective disinfection, good appearance, social and cultural symbols, ergonomics, smart system and technology and sustainability. The overall priorities of URs and DRs and their inner dependencies are subsequently determined through the ANP-QFD method, comprising the House of Quality (HQQ). According to the theoretical results, we propose five design strategies for pandemic prevention and control. Conclusion: It is demonstrated that the incorporated method of ANP-QFD has applicability and effectiveness in the conceptual product design process. This article can also provide a new perspective for pandemic prevention and control in densely populated communities in terms of product design and development.

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