As design problems become more complex and design lead time more pressing, designers need effective support tools to expand their design space exploration. In this paper, a hierarchical coevolutionary approach is proposed to support designers by automatically generating design concepts based on the designers’ inputs. The approach adopts a zigzag design process in which function structures and their corresponding solution principles coevolve in parallel across different levels of an abstraction hierarchy. A grammar-based approach is applied to decompose higher-level functions and generate an initial population of function structures. From this initial population, a coevolutionary algorithm is devised to coevolve more function structures and their corresponding solution principles. A case study of designing a mechanical personal transporter is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and features of the proposed approach.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: yjin@usc.edu
Article navigation
October 2007
Research Papers
Design Concept Generation: A Hierarchical Coevolutionary Approach
Yan Jin,
Yan Jin
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: yjin@usc.edu
University of Southern California
, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453
Search for other works by this author on:
Wei Li
Wei Li
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering,
University of Southern California
, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453
Search for other works by this author on:
Yan Jin
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering,
University of Southern California
, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453e-mail: yjin@usc.edu
Wei Li
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering,
University of Southern California
, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453J. Mech. Des. Oct 2007, 129(10): 1012-1022 (11 pages)
Published Online: December 16, 2006
Article history
Received:
September 6, 2006
Revised:
December 16, 2006
Citation
Jin, Y., and Li, W. (December 16, 2006). "Design Concept Generation: A Hierarchical Coevolutionary Approach." ASME. J. Mech. Des. October 2007; 129(10): 1012–1022. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2757190
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Related Articles
The Human Dimension
J. Mech. Des (May,2010)
An Invitation to a Broader Discourse
J. Mech. Des (August,2010)
Editorial
J. Mech. Des (July,2005)
Weights, Norms, and Notation in Analytical Target Cascading
J. Mech. Des (May,2005)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Introduction
Turbo/Supercharger Compressors and Turbines for Aircraft Propulsion in WWII: Theory, History and Practice—Guidance from the Past for Modern Engineers and Students
Platform Technologies
Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing
Part I Elementary Rules of Mechanical Design
The Elements of Mechanical Design