概念設計向き知識ベースシステム PROSCODE-1の研究

抄録

This paper describes a study on an application of knowledge engineering to CAD. In machine design, the conceptual designing is important but not easy to use computers to help designers, though CAD systems were widely introduced to the detail design stages. This is mainly due to the facts that the nature of the conceptual designing stages is not clarified and that how to represent machines and how to manipulate knowledge are not obtained. For these reasons, it is necessary first to define the representation of the specifications and of the de-sign solutions suitable for conceptual design stages. Then, the inference rules can be defined. In this paper, these rules, originally defined in the first order predicate logic form, are expressed in production systems. A pilot system for the conceptual designing stage is developed using the methods of knowledge engineering. This system, called PROSCODE-1 (PROduction rule System for COnceptual DEsign), is a knowledge-based system that is able to get a conceptual design solution in part-connectivity graph from a specification written in power flow. It is found that use of this kind of systems is convenient and useful for designers, especially when development of the designing process causes many changes.