Multidisciplinary Knowledge Modeling from Simulation and Specification to Support Concurrent and Collaborative Design

Product design tends to be more complex and needs the effective cooperation among multidisciplinary designers and engineers. An ideal product design environment, which is both collaborative and intelligent, will be much appreciated. Agent technology is an innovative and promising approach to implementing distributed systems and is becoming popular in various areas of computing in recent years. In this paper, the dynamic nature of collaborative design process and the representation of collaborative design knowledge are presented. In order to model constantly evolving design process and the rationales resulted from collaboration, a Collaborative Product Data Model (CPDM), which extends traditional Product Data Model (PDM), and a constraint-based Collaborative Design Process Model (CDPM) are proposed. These are intended to facilitate the management and coordination of collaborative product design process and knowledge management. A design example is used to illustrate CDPM. While the system is being implemented, the architecture of our agent-based collaborative product design environment based on CPDM and CDPM is described.

In order to solve the consistency and integration about process and process data that is produced in digital product collaborative development, digital collaborative design process model is presented, by detailed analyzing the integration requirement of collaborative design process and data. Based on this model, the CAX/DFX tools which are used in collaborative design are distributed and granule encapsulated by Federal Intelligent Product EnviRonment(FIPER); collaborative design process data produced by CAX/DFX tools is encapsulated based on the logic of Product Data Management (PDM) system’s workflow and is published as Webservice. FIPER is used to realize the collaborative design process flow that uses data Webservice to data exchange between PDM and uses encapsulated CAX/DFX tools to realize the design function. An example which realizes the integration of process design flow of a part is presented at the end of this paper. The collaborative design process flow is used to organize the collaborative process planning and to encapsulate the collaborative design data with Webservice in this example. The realization of this example manifested that the digital collaborative design product model has good practicability and the method of encapsulation for CAX/DFX tools and data Webservice is feasibility.

Modelling socio-technical systems such as cyber-physical systems (CPS) is becoming increasingly complex, due to their heterogeneous and highly dynamic nature. Collaboration between multiple stakeholders is needed to deal with this complexity. While collaboration has been studied extensively in process modelling, there is a lack of research in collaborative process design. In this paper, we propose a model of collaboration in process design, based on the co-evolution of design ideas across different process designers. We show how this model can be used for testing hypotheses related to task openness, modes of collaboration, and modelling tools. Research models based on co-evolution are proposed for testing each hypothesis. The co-evolution model can advance our understanding of process design by providing a basis for empirically studying the contextual factors likely to contribute to collaborative ideation.KeywordsProcess designCollaborationSocial creativityCo-evolutionS-BPM

The demand for collaboration between specialties is proposed in order to improve the efficiency of electronic products development. As for the structural design of radar system, a concept of TOP-DOWN collaborative design based on PDS platform is employed to realize coordinative development among various specialties and different departments. This paper mainly presents key points about procedures and specifications during 3D collaborative design by means of CREO 2.0 software on PDS platform. The discussion involves aspects of coordination system, framework model and process of collaborative product design.

The need for alignment between business strategies and business processes is today manifested in many different ways. This chapter presents experiences from a collaborative process modeling and process design effort performed at Intersport Sweden. The main purpose with the process modelling and process design was to serve, as a solid base for the transformation of Intersport Sweden into the future. In this effort an important part was that the new process design was in clear alignment with the new strategic business model. By a collaborative co-design approach for deriving and designing business process models diverse stakeholders’ knowledge and interest were captured in the development of tangible process descriptions of the future. The new strategic business plan has through collaborative process design been given a meaning and participating actors have become committed to implement this new business strategy.

This research focuses on the development of a quantitative intelligent system for implementing concurrent engineering design. The paper first discusses the task of concurrent engineering design and the basic requirements for conducting integrated concurrent engineering design. The proposed quantitative intelligent system approach combines qualitative reasoning, based upon design and manufacturing knowledge, and quantitative evaluation and optimization, conducted using design information and manufacturing data generated in the knowledge-based reasoning. The method allows considerations on non-operating principle aspects of a product to be incorporated into the design phase, such as manufacturing, maintenance, service, recycle, etc., with an emphasis on production costs. The proposed method serves as a convenient software tool for gathering information required in the concurrent engineering design process and integrates tasks from different parts of the product development life cycle, particularly function design, manufacturability analysis and production cost estimation. A prototype software system is developed based upon this method using Smalltalk-80. In the prototype system, concurrent engineering design is carried out by: (1) describing and representing design requirements; (2) generating feasible design candidates and evaluating their design functions; (3) representing design geometry; (4) finding the associated production processes and predicting the production costs of each feasible design; and (5) identifying the costeffective design that satisfies given design requirements and requires minimum production costs.

The present paper will discuss a landmark historical change that occurred during the last decade redefining architecture from an insular, solitary, and private activity into a distributed, cooperative, and community-based one. It will inquire into the reasons for this shift and explore the need to develop a new framework for personal and collaborative design and the opportunities resulting from it. How do we reason together in design? What are the criteria for selecting the technology to be used? How is knowledge acquired in such interactive framework? What are the new problems that emerge out of Collaborative Design? What are the new criteria to be applied when evaluating new design methods in the new context of Design Community? The paper will also examine some ideas related to a model for Personal and Collaborative Design and explore cognitive aspects of Community in the Mind. It will raise some basic question concerning new directions for research: The relation between Collaborative Design model to the cross-cultural design practice and the relation between cognitive organization of the Design Mind and the social organization of the Design Community.

A concurrent engineering-oriented design database representation model

In order to plan, manage, coordinate, and control the concurrent design process of CAD/CAPP effectively, this paper proposes a Petri net based CAD/CAPP concurrent design process model as well as its abstract process model. The proposed model has been validated using the Petri net based simulation tool - HPSim. Its characteristics are then discussed and four design process modes are described

<p>Urban development and densification are increasing rapidly; this fact has been globally reported. According to a 2014 United Nations report, the world population will increase by 25% in the next three decades. This significant growth means urban density will also increase drastically, creating an increase in high-rise apartment living quarters to cater for the population growth. Subsequently, the development of housing has been advancing - especially around construction techniques which are becoming more efficient to meet the demand of fast-growing urban populations. This thesis proposes that simply supplying housing is no longer sufficient to address the requirements of citizens. Denser living environments result in increased dissatisfaction, especially among those living in high-density housing. This research looks specifically into enabling homebuyers to voice their needs and design their living space. In this context, the social paradigm of high-density housing has not progressed much. There is still more a notion of supplying the needed quantity and homebuyers accepting the housing without question. Homebuyers, the main users of the housing, are often absent from both the planning and design process. Recent studies have shown that participation in their community is one of the key themes towards social sustainability. Many public participatory projects and platforms only allow participation in large scale urban developments and planning processes. There is a significant lack of initiatives that include homebuyers in the context of high-rise, high-density housing. The aim of this research is to explore how a computational tool within a virtual environment can facilitate and support design collaboration and interactions – not only between architects and homebuyers, but among individual and collective homebuyers too. The methodology of the research includes using focus groups to examine how digital tools can support and contribute to the collaborative design process of high-rise, high-density housing. The study is then tested with the public to determine if such design tools facilitate and support design collaborations. Three studies were undertaken: The first is a pre-tool development study. It uses a focus group to understand the factors necessary to engage homebuyers, and those factors that hinder such process. A digital tool for collaboration was then developed, based on analysis of the focus group results. A second study determines if the factors identified are sufficient for design collaboration within a digital environment. Based on this analysis, the tool was enhanced and integrated with third party visualisation software to enable the desired digital collaboration. A final study involves the public, examining whether such a design tool facilitates and supports their design collaborations. Throughout the research development, gamification techniques were introduced and adopted to further explore driving factors and to enhance design interactions. The target audience of this research is homebuyers, who are laypersons in architectural design processes and techniques. Gamification is, therefore, an effective technique to simplify the design process and enable homebuyers to immerse themselves in a collaborative design process. Virtual Reality is used at the final stage to immerse homebuyers further into the design environment and give them clearer feedback about their design decisions. The findings of the research confirm the benefits this novel collaborative design process has on the overall outcome of high-rise, high-dense buildings. It demonstrates how a virtual design tool can influence the process of consultation and procurement for homebuyers. A metadesign framework has been developed to provide a guide to the decision-making support necessary for such a collaborative design process. Finally, the research explains how such an enhanced communicative design operation can achieve the kind of synergies that break out of the current housing paradigm and take a major step forward in urban development.</p>

Purpose To describe the process and outcome of a user and theory informed online intervention for speech pathologists targeting the implementation of intensive and comprehensive aphasia services. Methods The design process followed the eight steps outlined by the Behaviour Change Wheel and incorporated the principles of Integrated Knowledge Translation (IKT). Eight speech pathology researchers and clinicians from four countries (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland) contributed to three focus groups via videoconference. Results The online platform, Aphasia Nexus: Connecting Evidence to Practice, provides resources, guidance and support for speech pathologists seeking to improve the intensity and comprehensiveness of their aphasia service. A collaborative and iterative design process facilitated the creation of an intervention envisioned by participants. Conclusions The website contains both interactive elements and resource links which have been arranged under the three headings of resources, action and support. The inclusion of multi-national researchers and clinicians benefitted a design process to make implementation more likely. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Theoretically informed implementation interventions aim to change the everyday clinical practice of health workers. An online platform has been developed to support speech pathologists’ implementation of intensive and comprehensive aphasia services. A collaborative design process can be beneficial in creating an intervention that is relevant to research-users and is more likely to be implemented.

Re-engineering of the design process for concurrent engineering

This study proposes to construct a product development model through using knowledge management system. This model aims to help the design engineers and their upstream and downstream partners in the supply chains to develop products synchronously and simultaneously through the computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) tools. The collaborative design in this model consists of three layers: data layer, information layer, and knowledge layer, which separately deals with product data exchange, information sharing and collaborative decision-making in the design process. Based on the principle of product design, the study had integrated the innovation method of theory of invention problem solving (TRIZ) with the methods of knowledge management to develop this collaborative design model. This model includes knowledge management platform and integrating the design notions of innovation, environment protection and manufacturability; it can also serve as a feasible reference for products collaborative design and development process. Key words: Knowledge management system, collaborative design, computer supported cooperative work.

The top-down collaborative assembly design is a high parallel, dynamic and stochastic process. A concise design process model should be explored for effective process control and the system design of the top-down collaborative assembly design. In this paper the activity characteristics of top-down collaborative assembly design are analyzed, the typical sub-process models of collaborative design activities are constructed using hierarchical object-oriented Petri net (HOOPN). The activity process of the top-down collaborative assembly design is modeled and the system architecture framework is built based on the activity process model.

This paper presents ongoing work to standardize model-based system engineering as a complement to point design development in the conceptual design phase of deep space missions. It summarizes two first steps towards practical application of this capability within the framework of concurrent engineering design teams and their customers. The first step is standard generation of system sensitivities models as the output of concurrent engineering design sessions, representing the local trade space around a point design. A review of the chosen model development process, and the results of three case study examples, demonstrate that a simple update to the concurrent engineering design process can easily capture sensitivities to key requirements. It can serve as a valuable tool to analyze design drivers and uncover breakpoints in the design. The second step is development of rough-order- of-magnitude, broad-range-of-validity design models for rapid exploration of the trade space, before selection of a point design. At least one case study demonstrated the feasibility to generate such models in a concurrent engineering session. The experiment indicated that such a capability could yield valid system-level conclusions for a trade space composed of understood elements. Ongoing efforts are assessing the practicality of developing end-to-end system-level design models for use before even convening the first concurrent engineering session, starting with modeling an end-to-end Mars architecture.