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An attribute-space representation and algorithm for concurrent engineering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2009

Timothy P. Darr  and
William P. Birmingham
Timothy P. Darr
Affiliation:
Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, U.S.A.
William P. Birmingham
Affiliation:
Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, U.S.A.
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Abstract

This paper presents a novel formulation of the configuration-design problem that achieves the benefits of the concurrent engineering (CE) design paradigm. In CE, all design concerns (manufacturability, testability, etc.) are applied to an evolving design throughout the design cycle. CE identifies conflicts early on, avoids costly redesign, and leads to better products. Our formulation is based on a distributed dynamic interval constraint-satisfaction problem (DDICSP) model. Persistent catalog agents map onto DDICSP variables and constraint agents map onto DDICSP constraints. These agents use a set of operations and heuristics to navigate the design space to eliminate sets of designs until a solution is found. Experimental results show that an architecture where each catalog agent resides on a separate computer has performance advantages over nondistributed approaches.

Keywords

Concurrent EngineeringDistributed DesignAgent ArchitecturesDistributed Artificial IntelligenceConstraint-Satisfaction Problems
Type
Articles
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 21 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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