Dealing with Evolving Constraints In Design Systems for Net Zero (DECIDE for Net Zero)

2021年10月发布的英国净零战略反映了避免气候灾难所需行动的紧迫性。报告概述的净零旅程涉及所有部门的经济和减排，其中航空业的具体挑战是一个值得注意的因素。全球航空业目前占全球排放量的2%，其中90%来自飞机运营，随着航空运输的增长，这一比例将逐步增长。作为对此的回应，技术和政策正在迅速变化，这既提供了机遇，也带来了挑战，但目前实践中的标准设计系统和流程不够灵活，无法支持当前对能够适应这些快速变化的未来需求的新颖设计的需求。在目前的方法下，解决方案很早就被锁定在现有技术水平上，并围绕该技术进行优化，因此在使用寿命内升级和增强的机会有限，对于航空航天来说，这是几十年的时间。但要实现净零，就需要迅速进行根本性的变革。需要灵活和适应性强的设计系统来帮助开发解决方案，这些解决方案可以很容易地升级，以便在出现时使用先进技术。这里的关键是需要约束以允许找到基线解决方案，但在围绕该基线进行优化时，这些约束成为未来增强的障碍。为了在不重新设计的情况下允许未来的变化，需要新的功能。特别是，绘制和衡量设计空间并随后能够动态改变限制条件的能力被认为是在这一领域取得进展的核心需要。需要映射和测量能力，以了解此时的约束如何影响设计，以及处理不断变化的约束的能力，以便了解设计可能如何随着新技术的进步或政策的变化而变化。由此产生的四个研究问题是：1.动态设计空间的导航：如何在设计模型中表示约束，使得可以导航变化的设计空间，并且可以识别驱动或限制设计的约束，并且可以量化它们对设计的影响？2.随时间演变的约束：如何允许约束随时间演变以及它们随时间对设计解决方案的影响被捕获，包括区分需求/约束的优先级的能力？3.解决方案路径的测量和评估：什么指标适合于保持一组时间历史链接的解决方案开放以供进一步开发？4.保持设计选项的开放：如何保持设计选项的开放，以及如何研究长时间内的技术更改/政策更改或移除？在Decision for Net Zero中，约束将被允许像设计的每个部分一样发展。在这样做的过程中，设计环境本身将发生演变，为产品演变创造新的健康景观。与当今尽可能优化的标准做法相反，这里的目标是生成多样化的解决方案群体，使许多人在重大中断中幸存下来，即使有些人可能会失败。这大大超越了当前健壮设计的概念。这种约束的变化需要一种使用时间历史相关遗传学的全新设计系统架构。设计空间的几何类比将使创新设计工具能够以更有意义的方式支持对设计空间的探索，最新的生物启发方法将允许探索产品如何在不断变化的约束环境中演变。有了这一能力，就可以开发出坚固的基线设计，以实现最快的净零过渡，例如，更模块化的机身可以接受氢或电力推进系统的即插即用解决方案，以及易于维护的具有成本效益的能源供应。

The UK Net Zero Strategy published in October 2021 reflects the urgency of action needed to avoid climate catastrophe. The net zero journey outlined therein addresses economy and emissions reduction in all sectors, with the specific challenge in aviation a notable element. Global aviation is currently responsible for 2% of emissions with 90% currently from aircraft operations, and this will grow progressively as air transportation grows. In response to this technology and policy are changing rapidly offering both opportunity and challenge, but the standard design systems and processes in practice today are insufficiently agile to support the current need for novel designs that can adapt to these rapidly changing future needs. With current approaches solutions get locked in early based on the available technology level, and optimised around that technology, and consequently have limited opportunity for upgrade and enhancement through operational life, which in the case of aerospace is decades. But delivery of net zero demands radical change quickly. Agile and adaptable design systems are needed to help develop solutions that can be easily upgraded to use advanced technology as it emerges.The key here is that constraints are needed to to allow a baseline solution to be found, but in then optimising around this baseline the constraints become a barrier to future enhancements. To allow future variation without redesign needs new capability. In particular capability to map and measure a design space and to subsequently be able to dynamically change the constraints was found to be a core need for progress in this area. The mapping and measurement capability is needed to understand how constraints are influencing the design at this point in time, and the capability to deal with changing constraints to allow understanding of how the design could change with new technology advance or policy changes. The four research questions emerging from this are therefore:1. Navigation of Dynamic Design Spaces: How can constraints be represented in a design model such that a changing design space can be navigated and the constraints driving or limiting the design can be identified, and their influence on the design quantified?2. Evolving Constraints over time: How can constraints be allowed to evolve over time and their influence on the design solutions over time captured, including ability to prioritise requirements/constraints?3. Measurement and Evaluation of Solution Paths: What metrics are appropriate for maintaining a set of time-history linked solutions open to further development? 4. Keeping Design Options Open: How can design options be kept open, and how cantechnology changes/policy changes or removal over a long time period be studied?In DECIDE for Net Zero constraints will be permitted to evolve just as every part of the design can. In doing this the design context itself will evolve, creating new fitness landscapes for product evolution. Contrary to standard practice today which is to optimise as far as possible, the aim here is to generate a diverse population of solutions that will have many individuals that survive major disruptions even if some may fail. This is moving significantly beyond current concepts of robust design. This variation of constraints requires a completely novel design system architecture using time history dependent genetics. Geometric analogies for design spaces will allow innovative design tools to support exploration of design spaces in a more meaningful way and the latest bio-inspired methodologies will allow exploration of how products evolve in the context of ever-changing constraints. With this capability robust baseline designs can be developed that will enable the fastest transition to net zero, for example a more modular airframe that can accept plug and play solutions for hydrogen or electric propulsion systems and energy supply which are easy to cost effective to maintain.