Conceptual Design for Assembly

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents an approach to support computer-aided conceptual design of mechatronic assemblies in a collaborative, multi-user environment. We describe a system, Conceptual Understanding and Prototyping (CUP), that allows a team of design engineers, collaborating over the Internet, to develop a high-level structure-function-behavior (S-B-F) description of an assembly in a VRML-based virtual environment. Our goal is to enable users to navigate intricate product data management (PDM) and case-based design knowledge-bases, providing the ability to perform design at conceptual level and have intelligent CAD tools that can draw on details from large repositories of previously archived designs. This work furthers research efforts in computer support for collaborative design activities — drawing on work in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW). We envision CUP to be a network interface to next-generation of engineering PDM systems and CAD databases. We are deploying CUP as query interface to the National Design Repository (http://repos.mcs.drexel.edu). This will enable CAD users to interrogate large quantities of legacy data and identify artifacts with structural and functional similarities — allowing designers to perform case-based and variant design.