NYI: New Approaches to Engineering Design: Controlled Chaos and Computer Automation

这个项目探索了两种新的工程设计方法。这些线索中的每一个都由协作子项目组成；这些子项目结合了分析数学、数值模拟、符号推理和物理实验。第一种方法是积极利用混沌来改进各种工程系统的设计。这方面的一个例子是通过在燃烧室中诱导混沌混合来使气体更有效地燃烧。一个小的、位置良好的障碍物可以与流入的水流和腔体的几何形状相互作用，从而产生巨大的影响：混沌的症状性“对初始条件的敏感依赖”。这些效应在实验和计算流体力学模拟中都得到了验证。另一个例子是使用混沌来扩大锁相环电路的捕获范围。改善工程设计的第二种方法是通过计算机自动化。这项工作的最终目标是一套探索不同高级分析和设计范例的程序。这样的工具不仅会简化工程师解决问题的任务，而且实际上还会放大创造力。第一步是一个程序，它根据有关系统的信息自动构建数学模型，这些信息以各种形式和格式呈现：直接在物理设备上进行的测量；用户以不同精度(符号或图形)向程序描述的观测；用户建议的部分模型和假设；以及编码在程序知识库中的一般数学理论。

This project explores two new approaches to engineering design. Each of these threads is composed of synergistic subprojects; these subprojects combine analytical mathematics, numerical simulation, symbolic reasoning, and physical experiments. The first approach is to actively use chaos to improve the designs of various engineering systems. One example of this is causing gases to burn more effectively by induction of chaotic mixing in a combustion chamber. A small, well-placed obstruction can interact with the inflow and with the chamber's geometry to cause large effects: chaos's symptomatic ``sensitive dependence on initial conditions.'' These effects are tested both experimentally and with computational fluid dynamic simulations. Another example is the use of chaos to broaden the capture range of a phase-locked loop circuit. The second approach to improving engineering design is through computer automation. The ultimate goal of this endeavor is a suite of programs that explores different high-level analysis and design paradigms. Such tools would not only streamline an engineer's problem-solving task, but actually amplify creativity. The first step is a program that autonomously constructs mathematical models from information about a system, presented in a variety of forms and formats: measurements made directly on the physical device; a user's observations described to the program in varying degrees of precision, symbolically or graphically; partial models and hypotheses suggested by a user; and general mathematical theory that is encoded in the program's knowledge base.