Formal Engineering Design Synthesis

by Edited by Erik K. Antonsson , Jonathan Cagan

• ISBN13: 9780521017756
• ISBN10: 0521017750
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The development of a new design is often thought of as a fundamentally human, creative act. However, emerging research has demonstrated that aspects of design synthesis can be formalized. First steps in this direction were taken in the early 1960s when systematic techniques were introduced to guide engineers in producing high-quality designs. By the mid-1980s these methods had evolved from their informal (guideline-like) origins to more formal (computable) methods. In recent years, highly automated design synthesis techniques have emerged. This timely book reviews the state-of-the-art in formal design synthesis methods. It also provides an in-depth exploration of several representative projects in formal design synthesis and examines future directions in computational design synthesis research. Written by internationally renowned experts in engineering and architectural design, it covers topics at the cutting edge of engineering design, and will appeal to designers, researchers and engineering graduate students.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Vitruvius redux: formalized design synthesis in architecture

2. How to calculate with shapes

3. Engineering shape grammars: where have we been and where are we going

4. Creating structural configurations

5. Microsystem design synthesis

6. Function-based synthesis methods in engineering design: state-of-the-art, methods analysis, and visions for the future

7. Artificial intelligence for design

8. Evolutionary and adaptive synthesis methods

9. Kinematic synthesis

10. Systematic chemical process synthesis

11. Synthesis of analog and mixed-signal integrated electronic circuits

12. Mechanical design compilers

13. Scientific discovery and inventive engineering design: cognitive and computational similarities

Index.