Intelligent Support for Conceptual Design:
A Flow Modelling Approach

MARTIN STACEY, GEORGE RZEVSKI, HELEN SHARP,
MARIAN PETRE, RODNEY BUCKLAND

Computing Department & Design Discipline, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Engineering Design
Heurista, Tampere, 1997, volume 3, pp 261-266.

Open University Computing Department Research Report 97/04

Introduction. Developing computer tools that enhance rather than limit conceptual design in engineering is one of the key challenges for research in artificial intelligence and human computer interaction. There is much to be gained from computer support for conceptual design, but tools based on prescriptive methodologies fail to match human design behaviour. The FACADE System (FAcilitating Communication Across Domains of Engineering) is based on the view that design systems should provide as wide a range of visual representations as possible, to enable designers to break out of the restrictions imposed by any one formalism, and to communicate more effectively with colleagues who use different representations of the design. The FACADE Project has concentrated on developing visual representations and knowledge representation schemes for thinking about designs as networks of concepts participating in flows of matter, energy and information.

Keywords: Conceptual Design, Mechatronics, AI, CAD, HCI, Design Methodology, Theory of Domains.

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