Integrative Situated Design: Linking Functions and Affordances Through Form

提出的研究目标是开发一种设计方法来支持位于工程工件的设计。在本研究中，情境性指的是产品被使用的情境。这个设计框架将在设计过程中捕捉功能和功能。基于功能的设计方法表示将能量、材料和信息转换为抽象的、与解决方案无关的产品表示，从而促进在设计存储库中存储和检索潜在的设计组件。基于可视性的设计方法侧重于为用户、环境和产品之间的交互建模。目前，还没有设计存储库支持基于功能支持的设计。结合这两种方法将产生一种设计方法，克服每种方法的局限性，从而产生一种独特的新产品设计方法，该方法结合了功能和可视性。将开发一个概念验证存储库来支持这种组合设计方法。将利用本地工业界提供的设计问题，建立一个示范和验证的试验台。如果成功，这项研究的结果将提供一种形式化的方法，将机械工程设计、工业和产品设计结合起来。传统上，在技术系统的开发过程中，这些学科在很大程度上是分离的。机械工程专业的研究生和本科生将从整合多种设计学科的课程和研究中受益匪浅，包括工业设计、人为因素分析、艺术和建筑。具体地说，机械工程专业的学生将与其他学科紧密合作，以理解和形式化这些工件的相互作用。通过这项研究，学生将有机会与当地的设计制造公司互动，探索设计问题。示例应用包括工业包装机、汽车子系统和消费电动工具的设计。这项研究的结果将通过各种渠道传播，包括学术和技术会议。

The objective of the proposed research is to develop a design methodology to support the design of situated engineering artifacts. In this research, situatedness refers to the context in which the product is used. This design framework will capture both function and affordance in the design process. Function-based design methods represent the conversion of energy, materials, and information into an abstract solution-neutral product representation that facilitates storage and retrieval of potential design components in a design repository. Affordance-based design methods focus on modeling interactions between users, the environment and the product. Currently, no design repository exists to support affordance-based design. Combining these two approaches will lead to a design methodology that overcomes limitations of each method, resulting in a unique new approach to product design that incorporates both function and affordance. A proof-of-concept repository will be developed to support this combined design method. A testbed for demonstration and validation will be created using design problems supplied by local industry. If successful, the results from this research will provide a formalized approach that integrates aspects of mechanical engineering design and industrial and product design. Traditionally, these disciplines are largely decoupled during the development of technical systems. Graduate and undergraduate mechanical engineering students will greatly benefit through course work and research that integrates multiple design disciplines, including industrial design, human factors analysis, art and architecture. Specifically, mechanical engineering students will work closely with other disciplines to understand and formalize these artifact interactions. Through this research, students will have the opportunity to interact with local design-manufacturing firms to explore design problems. Example applications include the design of industrial packaging machines, automobile subsystems, and consumer power tools. The results of this research will be disseminated through a variety of channels including academic and technical conferences.