1212 Management and Communication of Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge in the Building and Construction Industry Dr.ir. Jos van Leeuwen Eindhoven University of Technology Department of Building and Architecture Design Systems Group

1212 Topics in this presentation Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge Design Support: requirements Knowledge modelling & dissemination Feature-Based Modelling XML: concept and potentials Artificial Intelligence Feature Management System Feature Type recognition

1212 Design Knowledge Jos Harnischmacher ? design problem identification analysis ! design solution creativity uniqueness iterative processes Design concepts the notion of how a type of solution can be designed

1212 Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge Distributed Multi-designer projects (collaborative design) Sharing design knowledge (outside project-scope) Conceptual Early design stages Concerning the design rationale Niels Olivier

1212 Design Support: requirements Find information Acquire information Store information Retrieve information Adapt information Correct information Structure information Restructure information Define information Refine information Dynamic process

1212 Design Support: requirements Allowing architects to formalise their own design concepts, to use their own typologies when modelling a design.

1212 Knowledge modelling Designer specific Conceptual level of design information: not only ‘what is designed’, but also ‘how is designed’ Technique: Object orientation both description and behaviour are involved instance level and typological level

1212 Knowledge dissemination Collaborative design Sharing of design knowledge AI approaches for knowledge re-use, e.g., case-based design Evaluation, adaptation Knowledge management

1212 Role of Internet Increasing importance for collaboration Becoming the main / first source of information Free, world-wide, accessible, ‘standard’, …

1212 Topics in this presentation Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge Design Support: requirements Knowledge modelling & dissemination Feature-Based Modelling XML: concept and potentials Artificial Intelligence Feature Management System Feature Type recognition

1212 VR-DIS – Design Information System Some of the objectives VR interface for design activities Support for design in early stages Support for collaborative design Dynamic way of dealing with information: extensibility and flexibility of both design models and conceptual design models

1212 Internet Technology for Management & Communication of Knowledge Integration of 3 research disciplines Information Modelling (Feature-Based Modelling) for Defining Design Knowledge & Describing Designs Artificial Intelligence (Case-based reasoning) for Knowledge Dissemination

1212 Feature-Based Modelling Features are instantiations of Feature Types (formalised design concepts) Feature Types can be defined to represent simple data, or complex structures of other Feature Types Feature models contain Features that may possess non-typical characteristics (i.e. ad-hoc properties and relationships) types instances Information Modelling

1212 Example: a type ‘Roof’ with characteristics such as ‘slope’, ‘material’, ‘thermal insulation’, etc. Feature-Based Modelling types instances Information Modelling

Feature-Based Modelling Information Modelling

1212 Feature-Based Modelling Framework Extensibility: designer can define typologies Flexibility: referential structures, ad hoc modelling (e.g., associative reasoning) Meta-Layer classes of Feature Types and classes of Feature Instances defines format of Feature Types formalised design concepts Feature Instances composition of a design model instantiated into Information Modelling

1212 Feature Management System Feature Management Module previous implementation was based on Object Oriented DB VR User Interface User Feature data Geometry Engine Feature Management Core OODB – SDK other modules Feature Management Module Information Modelling

1212 XML: eXtensible Markup Language Concept –Structured documents –Document structure can be defined by user –Internet facilities for linking and re-using documents –Standardised document management Internet Technolog y

1212 XML: eXtensible Markup Language Potentials –Standard for document storage / management / exchange –Standard interface for databases –Replacement for HTML Internet Technolog y

1212 XML: eXtensible Markup Language Example 6 20 multimedia presentation Internet Technolog y

1212 XML-Schema: defining XML doc. structures <xsd:element name="area" type="ftrbase:Role" minOccurs="0" ftrbase:roletype="spec" ftrbase:ftrtyperef="Area"/> Internet Technolog y

1212 Implementation issues Microsoft’s.NET environment Offers cross-platform capabilities Allows easy re-utilisation of code e.g., for standalone applications or for web-based applications Extensive XML facilities Internet Technolog y

1212 Artificial Intelligence AI in this project is used to enable Knowledge Dissemination: –Indexing a design case in order to generate a database of design concepts (design problems and solutions) –Find similar cases for a given design case –Search for existing solutions to a design problem –Restructure information to facilitate the above –Adaptation of found design solution to existing situation (adjusting the set of variables) –Application of design solution to current problem (filling in the variables) Artificial Intelligence

1212 Technologies required –Matching information structures both at the typological and instantiated level: Finding similar types, finding new types, recognising new types, … –Application of heuristics for non-exact matching How to fill in the gaps or skip the irrelevant –Conversion of information structures Resolve linguistic, cultural, stylistic differences –Adaptation techniques for both the conceptual level and the instantiation procedure How to evaluate the variables of the design concept and how to apply them to the existing situation Artificial Intelligence

1212 Feature Management System Based on XML technology Makes resources from Internet available Enables sharing through Internet Standard communication format for design data and design knowledge VR User Interface User Feature data Type B Modules Feature Management Core DOM / XML / XML-Schema Type A Modules Feature Management Schema Feature Management Module Internet Technolog y Information Modelling Artificial Intelligence

1212 Feature Type Recognition Recognising the emergence of new concepts Recognising and verifying known typologies Finding similarities between typologies for, e.g., exchange purposes

1212 Topics in this presentation Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge Design Support: requirements Knowledge modelling & dissemination Feature-Based Modelling XML: concept and potentials Artificial Intelligence Feature Management System  Feature Type recognition

1212 Feature Type Recognition Support for consistency in the design task Support for Case retrieval Matching functional specs with technical solutions Support for exchange of design data Support for design evaluation Support for consistency in the design task

1212 Recognising the emergence of new concepts Instances with ad-hoc modelled properties and relationships types

1212 Recognising the emergence of new concepts Involves: Examining the existing model, trying to find recurring patterns of interrelated concepts Checking if such patterns match with existing typologies (e.g. aggregations), if not: Proposing the definition of new Feature Types to represent the newborn design concepts

1212 Recognising and verifying known typologies illustration 1

1212 Recognising and verifying known typologies illustration 2

1212 Recognising and verifying known typologies Involves: Searching for instances of known major types (so-called root types) If found: attempt to match the context in the model with the context in the typology If not found: attempt to infer instances of known types by examining the model and applying heuristics

1212 Topics in this presentation Distributed Conceptual Design Knowledge Design Support: requirements Knowledge modelling & dissemination Feature-Based Modelling XML: concept and potentials Artificial Intelligence Feature Management System  Feature Type recognition

1212 To conclude… Feature-Based Modelling enables designers to follow a dynamic design approach while benefiting from the capabilities of computer support XML technology confirms that the dynamic approach of design information modelling is a feasible and enhanced approach with great potentials Case-Based Reasoning technologies are currently being investigated and will be incorporated in the FBM information management environment

1212DiscussionDiscussion Modelling approach Artificial Intelligence methods and techniques Application and testing environment Organisational implementation issues

1212 Thank you very much for your time and attention More information and this presentation can be found at these websites: jos.civil.ist.utl.pt