In Search of Design Genes: Chaotic versus Controlled Mitosis

寻找设计基因：混乱与受控有丝分裂

• 批准号: EP/N005813/1
• 负责人: Mark Price
• 金额: $ 37.54万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FN005813%2F1
• 关键词: Search; Design; Genes; Chaotic; versus

To create many of the complex products and systems we have around us in the modern world we have needed advanced technology. But to enable us to use this, and create the volume and complexity of products we have also needed complex organisational systems and processes. Large complex organisations have in particular relied on the Systems Engineering process, to help guide complex projects through to completion. Many products, such as aircraft, only exist because of this systematic approach. But this systematic approach has a downside. To maintain control of a complex design it is necessary to fix ideas and concepts, and work through detail in a top-down approach. This flow down keeps development within the bounds of the original idea or concept, but naturally prevents innovation and variation. In fact, such variation and innovation are in some ways the enemy of the controlled organisation needed to keep a global enterprise on track. One great fear is the phenomenon of emergence; inherently unknowable behaviour.But ironically, to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by new technologies, such as composite materials or additive manufacturing, this kind of innovation is desperately needed. But marrying these technologies within a complex fixed organisational structure and process is clearly very difficult.This work looks to nature for inspiration, for an unconstrained approach to the creation of engineering designs. It seeks to start from the bottom up rather than top down. The creation of an elemental set of rules based on energy and equilibrium, could allow variation to naturally arise in design. In nature, the rules are applied blindly with no fixed final form. That final form only arising as a consequence of its environment. Trees are a wonderful example of this.So the aim of this work is: to seek an elementary set of rules, akin to a DNA of design, for designing components & systems.Our hypothesis is that by reimagining design as a series of elemental rules and growth mechanisms that react to environment and stimuli, the design of complex systems will be simplified, and emergence could be used as a tool for innovation beyond conventional paradigms.We see three major challenges: * Obtaining growth rules for component seeds to allow components to emerge from the activity * Defining stimuli that will make the component seeds grow and establishing if that growth can be controlled via the stimuli. * Capturing the emergent behaviour into a working set of parameters which can interact with existing design and manufacturing systems - i.e. is there a set of parameters which will define a CAD model?In this project we will investigate theoretical aspects of this approach, and the practical implications of using these elementary rules in engineering design.We will use intelligent software agents to represent component seeds which will create a design depending on the environment around it. The agents will grow to form a more complete component or system which can be envisioned in a CAD system. The agents will have the ability to spawn others as the system develops in response to the environment. For example, as in forming a branch, or root, or in an engineering context a stiffener or hole.The result from the work should be a set of rules encapsulated in a prototype system that will automatically create a component from a simple seed definition. Depending on the information of its surroundings, it will grow large or small, taking form, shape & colour according to need. One seed should be capable of producing a wide variety of solutions, generating innovation naturally. By tweaking the rules and behaviours we expect to allow some emergent behaviour to occur. This feeds back to the aim of this study - to establish if these elementary rules can be put to effective use in design. This study will assess and report on this, its potential and practicality.

为了创造我们周围的许多复杂产品和系统，我们需要先进的技术。但是，为了使我们能够利用这一点，并创造出大量和复杂的产品，我们还需要复杂的组织系统和流程。大型复杂组织特别依赖于系统工程过程，以帮助指导复杂项目的完成。许多产品，如飞机，只是因为这种系统的方法而存在。但这种系统性的方法也有缺点。为了保持对复杂设计的控制，有必要固定想法和概念，并以自顶向下的方法处理细节。这种向下流动使开发保持在原始想法或概念的范围内，但自然会阻止创新和变化。事实上，这种变化和创新在某种程度上是控制组织的敌人，而控制组织是保持全球企业走上正轨所必需的。人们最大的恐惧是涌现现象;这是一种内在的不可知行为。但具有讽刺意味的是，为了利用新技术（如复合材料或增材制造）提供的许多机会，这种创新是迫切需要的。但是将这些技术结合到一个复杂的固定组织结构和流程中显然是非常困难的。这项工作从大自然中寻找灵感，寻找一种不受约束的方法来创建工程设计。它寻求自下而上，而不是自上而下。基于能量和平衡的一组基本规则的创建，可以允许设计中自然出现变化。在自然界中，规则是盲目应用的，没有固定的最终形式。最后的形式只是作为其环境的结果而产生的。树木就是一个很好的例子。所以这项工作的目的是：寻求一套基本的规则，类似于设计的DNA，用于设计组件和系统。我们的假设是，通过将设计重新想象为一系列对环境和刺激做出反应的基本规则和生长机制，复杂系统的设计将被简化，和涌现可以被用作超越传统范式的创新工具。我们看到三个主要挑战：* 获取组件种子的增长规则，以允许组件从Activity中出现 * 定义将使组件种子生长的刺激，并确定该生长是否可以通过刺激来控制。* 将紧急行为捕获到可以与现有设计和制造系统交互的工作参数集中-即是否有一组参数将定义CAD模型？在这个项目中，我们将研究这种方法的理论方面，以及在工程设计中使用这些基本规则的实际意义。我们将使用智能软件代理来表示组件种子，这些种子将根据周围的环境创建设计。代理将成长为可以在CAD系统中设想的更完整的组件或系统。随着系统对环境的响应，代理将有能力产生其他代理。例如，如在形成分支或根中，或在工程环境中形成加强筋或孔。工作的结果应该是一组封装在原型系统中的规则，它将从简单的种子定义自动创建组件。根据周围环境的信息，它会变大或变小，根据需要采取形式，形状和颜色。一颗种子应该能够产生各种各样的解决方案，自然产生创新。通过调整规则和行为，我们希望允许一些紧急行为发生。这也是本研究的目的--确定这些基本规则是否可以在设计中有效使用。这项研究将评估和报告这一点，其潜力和实用性。

项目成果

A Novel Design System for Exploiting Additive Manufacturing

用于利用增材制造的新颖设计系统

• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Friel I

Investigation of starting conditions in generative processes for the design of engineering structures

工程结构设计生成过程起始条件的研究

• DOI: 10.1109/ssci52147.2023.10371945
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Buchanan E

SmartMaaS: A Framework for Smart Manufacturing-as-a-Service

SmartMaaS：智能制造即服务的框架

• 发表时间: 2020
• 作者: Barbhuiya S

Novelty Search for Shape Descriptors

形状描述符的新颖性搜索

• 发表时间: 2020
• 作者: Hickinbotham S

Local Fitness Landscape Exploration Based Genetic Algorithms

• DOI: 10.1109/access.2023.3234775
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Access
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Rahul Dubey;S. Hickinbotham;M. Price;A. Tyrrell