Designing at the Functional Level of Abstraction

在设计项目的早期阶段，能够以较高的抽象级别表示正在设计的系统的功能需求尤其重要。这使得设计团队可以快速地安排和重新安排必要的功能部件。这也提供了一种方法来探索不同系统配置的可行性，并在设计冻结之前提出和回答“假设”问题。类似地，如果一个人能够对与制造相关的过程建模，那么以类似的方式，可以探索不同制造系统的可行性。众所周知，一旦知道了部件的设计，面向制造工具的设计就是可实现和有用的。但是，如果必须很早就解决面向制造的设计问题，例如，当只知道功能时，该怎么办？目前，这仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。如果在抽象的功能级别开发了用于对功能和制造过程进行建模的工具，那么应该可以提出并回答出现在功能-制造界面上的“假设”问题。当只知道功能需求时，将制造考虑因素包括在设计中的方法的发展是本研究的重点。

In the early stages of a design project, it is especially important to be able to represent, at a high level of abstraction, the functional requirements of the system being designed. This makes it possible for the design team to arrange and rearrange the essential functional components rapidly. This also offers a means to explore the feasibility of different system configurations and to pose and answer "what-if" questions before the design is frozen. Similarly, if one is able to model processes associated with manufacture, then in a like manner, the feasibility of different manufacturing systems can be explored. It is well known that design for manufacture tools are implementable and useful once the design of a component is known. But what if it is necessary to address the issue of design for manufacture very early, for example, when only the function is known? At present, this remains an open question. If the tools for modeling function and manufacturing processes at the function level of abstraction are developed then it should be possible to pose and answer "what-if" questions that occur at the function-manufacture interface. The development of the means to include manufacturing considerations in design when only the functional requirements are known is the focus of this research.