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CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
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_id	ee8f
authors	Rasdorf, William J.
year	1987
title	Extending Database Management Systems for Engineering Applications
source	Computers in Mechanical Engineering (CIME). American Society of Mechanical Engineers, March, 1987. vol. 5: pp. 62-69
summary	During the design of a manufactured component, large amounts of information pertaining to all aspects of the design must be stored, accessed, and operated upon. A database management system (DBMS), composed of a central repository of data and the associated software for controlling accesses to it and operations on it, provides one way to uniformly store, manage, and use this information. This paper presents a framework for an extension to relational database management systems that combines a set of engineering constraints with a database of engineering data items. The representation requires a database that is able to store all of the data normally associated with engineering design as well as the constraints imposed upon the engineering design process. A powerful and flexible constraint processing system is needed to adequately ensure that engineering data conforms to the limitations imposed upon it by the design process. Such a system must be capable of allowing constraints to be invoked at a variety of times, and provide numerous options for the user when violations are detected. This paper introduces a concept called structured constraints that integrates state- of-the-art advances in DBMSs and current research in engineering constraint processing to further enhance CAD system capabilities. It discusses the extensions to relational database theory that are needed to achieve such a constraint handling capability for mechanical engineering applications. The goal sought is a managed repository of data supporting interfaces to a wide variety of application programs and supporting processing capabilities for maintaining data integrity by incorporating engineering constraints. The Structured Constraint model is a general method for classifying semantic integrity constraints. It is based on the structure of the relational model and is therefore independent of any particular query language. In addition, it is a formalism that possesses conceptual clarity and generality which make it useful for representing and communicating arbitrary constraints. The key contribution of this formalism is its basis for a completely definable implementation of an engineering integrity system
keywords	civil engineering, relational database, constraints management, management, DBMS
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	60f6
authors	Shapiro, Stuart C. and Rapaport, William J.
year	1987
title	Knowledge Representation for Natural Language Processing
source	September, 1987. pp. 56-77. includes bibliography
summary	In this paper the authors extend, deepen, and clarify their theory of intentional knowledge representation for natural- language processing, as presented in previous papers and in light of objections raised by others. The essential claim is that tokens in a knowledge-representation system represent only intentions and not extensions. The authors pursue this investigation by building CASSIE, a computer model of a cognitive agent and, to the extent she works, a cognitive agent herself. CASSIE's mind is implemented in the SNePS propositional semantic-network processing system
keywords	This paper explicates the relations among nodes, mental tokens,
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	e861
authors	Burnham, G.T.
year	1987
title	Microcomputer-Based Expert System for the Design of Operational Military Airfields
source	Department of Architectural Science, University of Sydney
summary	This thesis develops a number of prototypical expert systems on a microcomputer to assist the military designer or engineer with facets of military operational airfield design. An existing expert system shell BUILD written in PROLOG-1 was altered to provide a more permanent record of the results of the system execution. The individual knowledge base includes production rules which conform to the BUILD syntax requirements. A number of additional clauses related to the knowledge base are written in PROLOG-1. The expert system consists of some 200 rules and an additional 36 clauses. The rules contain knowledge on soil characteristics pertinent to airfields, factors involved in calculating lengths of runways and factors for determining the effort involved in construction. The knowledge for the expert systems was gathered from a combination of civilian and military literature sources, the author's own experience, and discussions with military and air force personnel currently engaged in the design, planning and construction of these facilities. Development of these prototypical expert systems demonstrates the feasibility of implementing expert systems on microcomputers in this domain. Furthermore, it demonstrates their possible application to military engineering design particularly where the design process relies on a large amount of tabulated data and heuristic knowledge. It is this type of knowledge that is often used by the military engineer to find a timely problem solution when provided with a range of options. [Unpublished. -- CADLINE has abstract only.]
keywords	Applications, Military Engineering, Expert Systems, Design, Planning
series	thesis:MSc
last changed	2002/12/14 19:15

_id	9999
authors	Coxe, W., Hartung, N.F., Hochberg, H.H., Lewis, B.J., Maister, D.H., Mattox, R.F. and Piven, P.A.
year	1987
title	Success Strategies for Design Professionals
source	New York, McGraw-Hill
summary	As consultants with the opportunity to analyze literally hundreds of professional design firms, we have found the search for ideal management methods challenging. Each time we've observed a format that appears to work well for some or many firms, an exception has soon appeared, contradicting what looked like a good rule to follow. For example, some firms do outstanding work organized as project teams, others are very successful with a departmentalized project structure, and still others get good results with a studio format. One of the major puzzles for observers has been finding a relation between the project delivery system used by firms (that is, "how we do our work") and how the organization itself is operated (that is, "how we structure and run the firm"). After years of study and trial and error, a model has begun to emerge that holds promise for creating some order among these issues. At the heart of this model is the recognition that although no one strategy fits all firms, there is a family of understandable principles from which almost any firm of design professionals can devise its own best strategy. We call these the SuperPositioning principles. This book sets forth the theory, a set of master strategies derived from it, and some thoughts on how to put the principles to use. We look forward to further learning in the years ahead from the experience of professionals who apply the principles in their own firms.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	ecaade2023_138
id	ecaade2023_138
authors	Crolla, Kristof and Wong, Nichol
year	2023
title	Catenary Wooden Roof Structures: Precedent knowledge for future algorithmic design and construction optimisation
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2023.1.611
source	Dokonal, W, Hirschberg, U and Wurzer, G (eds.), Digital Design Reconsidered - Proceedings of the 41st Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe 2023) - Volume 1, Graz, 20-22 September 2023, pp. 611–620
summary	The timber industry is expanding, including construction wood product applications such as glue-laminated wood products (R. Sikkema et al., 2023). To boost further utilisation of engineered wood products in architecture, further development and optimisation of related tectonic systems is required. Integration of digital design technologies in this endeavour presents opportunities for a more performative and spatially diverse architecture production, even in construction contexts typified by limited means and/or resources. This paper reports on historic precedent case study research that informs an ongoing larger study focussing on novel algorithmic methods for the design and production of lightweight, large-span, catenary glulam roof structures. Given their structural operation in full tension, catenary-based roof structures substantially reduce material needs when compared with those relying on straight beams (Wong and Crolla, 2019). Yet, the manufacture of their non-standard geometries typically requires costly bespoke hardware setups, having resulted in recent projects trending away from the more spatially engaging geometric experiments of the second half of the 20th century. The study hypothesis that the evolutionary design optimisation of this tectonic system has the potential to re-open and expand its practically available design solution space. This paper covers the review of a range of built projects employing catenary glulam roof system, starting from seminal historic precedents like the Festival Hall for the Swiss National Exhibition EXPO 1964 (A. Lozeron, Swiss, 1964) and the Wilkhahn Pavilions (Frei Otto, Germany, 1987), to contemporary examples, including the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre (HCMA Architecture + Design, Canada, 2016). It analysis their structural concept, geometric and spatial complexity, fabrication and assembly protocols, applied construction detailing solutions, and more, with as aim to identify methods, tools, techniques, and construction details that can be taken forward in future research aimed at minimising construction complexity. Findings from this precedent study form the basis for the evolutionary-algorithmic design and construction method development that is part of the larger study. By expanding the tectonic system’s practically applicable architecture design solution space and facilitating architects’ access to a low-tech producible, spatially versatile, lightweight, eco-friendly, wooden roof structure typology, this study contributes to environmentally sustainable building.
keywords	Precedent Studies, Light-weight architecture, Timber shell, Catenary, Algorithmic Optimisation, Glue-laminated timber
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2023/12/10 10:49

_id	2ac0
authors	Galle, Per
year	1987
title	A Formalized Concept of Sketching in Automated Floor Plan Design
source	177 p. 1987. DIKO Research Report No.87/3
summary	CADLINE has abstract only. Automated floor plan design, though originally motivated by the difficulties encountered by architects manually designing building layouts, raise several questions that may be of relevance to related application areas as well. e.g. design of electronic circuitry. One such question is, 'how do we come from a given set of constraints on size and placement of rooms (components) to a set of floor plans (circuit layouts) that satisfy these constraints?' In manual architectural design, sketches are used as an intermediate step. The present work is a study of a number of formalizations of the sketch concept which have been or could be used in computer- generation of architectural floor plans. A particular type of sketch, called the 'delta-derivative', is suggested and developed. The delta-derivative of a desired solution plan is an approximation of that solution plan and usually several other similar or 'equivalent' solutions. The idea is to generate sketches ('abstract' plans) before solutions ('concrete' plans), because they are simpler to compute, weeding out sketches that are not 'promising', and trying to refine the remaining sketches into solutions proper, thus limiting the amount of combinatorial search. Several abstraction levels of sketches may be used in this process. However, constraints as specified by the user of an automated design system are assumed to apply to the solutions; therefore a major theoretical problem which is addressed in the report is the derivation of sketch-level constraints that define which sketches to be generated. A comprehensive floor plan design system based on these ideas has been implemented, and empirical results are reported which confirms certain predicted advantages of delta-derivatives but also shows that the sketch-level constraints based on the developed theory are too weak if used alone; they allow generation of too many sketches which cannot possibly be refined into solutions. The report finally conjectures a solution to this problem
keywords	CAD, planning, architecture, floor plans, design, combinatorics, programming, abstraction
series	CADline
last changed	1999/02/12 15:08

_id	8eb5
authors	Gero, John S. (Conference Chairman and Editor)
year	1987
title	Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design
source	IFIP WG 5.2 Working Conference on Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design. proceedings. 1987. 533 p. : ill. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1987. Also published as a book by North Holland (Amsterdam, 1987)
summary	The aim of the Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design conference was to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences related to expert systems in computer-aided design, to present and explore the state-of-the-art of expert systems in computer-aided design, to delineate future directions in both research and practice and to promote further development. Seventeen of the nineteen papers accepted were presented with each presentation followed by a round table discussion. The discussion was taped, transcribed and edited and forms part of this volume. The authors came from seven countries, whilst the attendees represented some thirteen nationalities. There is an implicit structure in the ordering of the papers, commencing with system architectures, representation tools through applications to specific design concerns. These papers demonstrate the wide variety of knowledge engineering tools needed in computer-aided design. It is interesting to observe the progression over these three conferences in the ratio of computer scientists to design researchers amongst the authors. The balance over the period has swung from a predominance of computer scientists to a predominance of design researchers. We are beginning to see knowledge engineering development driven by designers' needs
keywords	CAD, expert systems, AI, design
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	671c
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E., Swerdloff, Lucien M. and Harfmann, Anton C.
year	1987
title	A Knowledge-Based Approach to Dynamic Computer-Aided Design Task Allocation
source	Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design: Proceeding of the IFIP WG 5.2 Working Conference on Expert system in Computer-Aided Design --- edited by Gero, John S Sydney: North-Holland, 1987. pp. 203-224 : ill. includes bibliography.
summary	A model of the design process control that supports dynamic allocation of tasks between a designer and a computer is presented. The model is discussed theoretically, and is demonstrated through a Prolog implementation for the participatory design of single family houses. Its utility and universal applicability are established, as well as its relationship to other computational approaches to design automation
keywords	expert systems, design process, knowledge base, architecture, control, housing, applications
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	e290
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E.
year	1987
title	Worldview : An Integrated Geometric Modeling/Drafting System
source	IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. February, 1987. vol. 7: pp. 36-46 : ill. (some col.). includes bibliography
summary	Worldview is a computer-aided architectural and engineering design system that combines the power of geometric modeling utilities with the intuitive design and communication capabilities of drafting utilities. This article describes the basic design concepts and implementation of the system, achieved by representing the designed artifact nonredundantly in a three-dimensional 'world' and manipulating it through multiple two-dimensional 'views.' The world consists of a collection of shapes that store all the formative information pertinent to the designed artifact, while the views consist of images of selected shapes, generated through particular two-way mapping transforms. Several views that depict the same set of shapes through different transforms can be displayed simultaneously, using multiple, dynamic, user- defined windows, thereby enabling addressability of points in the 3D world. Views also include such design and communication aids as dimension lines, construction lines, annotations, and graphic symbols to enhance the visual content of the images without encumbering the representation of the shapes themselves. Modifications applied to the shapes through any view are immediately apparent in all other views in which the shapes are imaged. The shapes are represented by a data structure based on the Hybrid Edge data model, which facilitates the integration of points, lines, surfaces, and volumetric bodies into one formative hierarchy. The integration of drafting and modeling simplifies the use of powerful modeling utilities by designers, facilitates the communication of the designed artifact, and enhances the integrity of the design as a whole
keywords	drafting, systems, geometric modeling, representation, user interface, computer graphics, CAD, architecture, engineering
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	4109
authors	Li, Shu-Xiang and Leow, Murray H.
year	1987
title	The Quadcode and its Arithmetic
source	Communications of the ACM. July, 1987. vol. 30: pp. 621-626 : ill. includes bibliography
summary	The quadcode is a hierarchical data structure for describing digital images. It has the following properties: (1) straightforward representation of dimension, size, and the relationship between an image and its subsets; (2) explicit description of geometric properties, such as location, distance, and adjacency; and (3) ease of conversion from and to raster representation. The quadcode has applications to computer graphics and image processing because of its ability to focus on selected subsets of the data and to allow utilization of multiple resolutions in different parts of the image. A related approach is the quadtree. Samet recently presented a thorough survey of the literature in that field. Gargantini and Abel and Smith presented linear quadtrees and linear locational keys that are efficient labeling techniques for quadtrees. In those papers the geometric concepts of the image are discussed by using the tree as an interpretive medium, and the approaches and procedures are based on traversal of the nodes in the tree. In this paper the authors present the quadcode system, which is a direct description of the image, and discuss the geometric concepts in terms of the coded images themselves
keywords	quadtree, image processing, representation, computer graphics, search
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	ddss2006-hb-187
id	DDSS2006-HB-187
authors	Lidia Diappi and Paola Bolchi
year	2006
title	Gentrification Waves in the Inner-City of Milan - A multi agent / cellular automata model based on Smith's Rent Gap theory
source	Van Leeuwen, J.P. and H.J.P. Timmermans (eds.) 2006, Innovations in Design & Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning, Dordrecht: Springer, ISBN-10: 1-4020-5059-3, ISBN-13: 978-1-4020-5059-6, p. 187-201
summary	The aim of this paper is to investigate the gentrification process by applying an urban spatial model of gentrification, based on Smith's (1979; 1987; 1996) Rent Gap theory. The rich sociological literature on the topic mainly assumes gentrification to be a cultural phenomenon, namely the result of a demand pressure of the suburban middle and upper class, willing to return to the city (Ley, 1980; Lipton, 1977, May, 1996). Little attempt has been made to investigate and build a sound economic explanation on the causes of the process. The Rent Gap theory (RGT) of Neil Smith still represents an important contribution in this direction. At the heart of Smith's argument there is the assumption that gentrification takes place because capitals return to the inner city, creating opportunities for residential relocation and profit. This paper illustrates a dynamic model of Smith's theory through a multi-agent/ cellular automata system approach (Batty, 2005) developed on a Netlogo platform. A set of behavioural rules for each agent involved (homeowner, landlord, tenant and developer, and the passive 'dwelling' agent with their rent and level of decay) are formalised. The simulations show the surge of neighbouring degradation or renovation and population turn over, starting with different initial states of decay and estate rent values. Consistent with a Self Organized Criticality approach, the model shows that non linear interactions at local level may produce different configurations of the system at macro level. This paper represents a further development of a previous version of the model (Diappi, Bolchi, 2005). The model proposed here includes some more realistic factors inspired by the features of housing market dynamics in the city of Milan. It includes the shape of the potential rent according to city form and functions, the subdivision in areal submarkets according to the current rents, and their maintenance levels. The model has a more realistic visualisation of the city and its form, and is able to show the different dynamics of the emergent neighbourhoods in the last ten years in Milan.
keywords	Multi agent systems, Housing market, Gentrification, Emergent systems
series	DDSS
last changed	2006/08/29 12:55

_id	cee5
authors	Mackenzie, C.A. and Gero, John S.
year	1987
title	Learning Design Rules from Decisions and Performances
source	Artificial Intelligence in Engineering. 1987. vol. 2: pp. 2-10
summary	This paper examines an approach to the extraction of implicit knowledge in rule form about the relationships between design decisions and their performance consequences. The effects of an imposed structure on a performance space are observed in relation to matching points in a decision space. A mapping between the two spaces embodies the knowledge that is discovered. The performance space is structured by Pareto optimization and the knowledge extraction process is illustrated by two examples from building design. The use of the methodology for learning about decision/performance relationships in extant designs is proposed
keywords	inference, expert systems, design process, evaluation, learning, theory, applications, systems
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 14:41

_id	c7e0
id	c7e0
authors	Maria Gabriela Caffarena Celani
year	2002
title	BEYOND ANALYSIS AND REPRESENTATION IN CAD: A NEW COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH TO DESIGN EDUCATION
source	Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Architecture: Design & Computation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
summary	This thesis aims at changing students' attitude towards the use of computer-aided design (CAD) in architecture. It starts from the premise that CAD is used mostly for analysis and representation, and not as a real design aide, and that architecture students have a bias against learning computer programming. For this purpose, a prototypical instruction system that mixes computer-aided design and computational design theory was developed, based on a series of fundamental concepts that are common to both fields. This system was influenced by Mitchell's (1987) The Art of Computer Graphics Programming and Stiny's (1976) shape grammars. Despite being based on solid theoretical foundations, CAD has progressively become an exclusively practical tool, since its origins in the 50's and 60's, while computational design theories have been mostly restricted to the academic circles. This thesis proposes an inversion in the present situation: the study of CAD theory, and the application of computational design into practice. The system proposed provides a conceptual framework that can be adapted to different circumstances, including course formats and resources, as well as students' background and technical training. It is based on seven fundamental concepts from computational design theories that are also important to the study of shape grammars: symmetry, recursion, rule-based compositions, parameterization of shapes, generative systems, algorithmization of design procedures, and shape emergence. These concepts are introduced within a CAD context, where their practical implementation and experimentation are possible, focusing the understanding of the computational nature of design. During this research, the proposed system was tested in two case studies with students from schools that had contrary orientations in terms of the importance of CAD in the architectural curriculum. In these experimental courses, students' activities evolved from using a commercial CAD tool in an innovative way, to the use of programming techniques for creating meaningful tools. Despite not having a statistical reach, the fieldwork allowed drawing preliminary conclusions about the proposed system's efficacy, since virtually all the students reported changing their understanding of the role of CAD in architecture, while some also acknowledged a conceptual influence in other subjects and in the way they see architecture.
keywords	Symmetry
series	thesis:PhD
type	normal paper
email
more	http://www.fec.unicamp.br/~celani/
last changed	2004/11/17 20:51

_id	404e
authors	Oksala , T.
year	1988
title	Logical Models for Rule-based CAAD
source	CAAD futures ‘87 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-42916-6] Eindhoven (The Netherlands), 20-22 May 1987, pp. 107-116
summary	The aim of this paper is to present the basic results of a theoretic approach to represent architectural individual forms in CAD systems. From the point of view of design methodology and problem solving these descriptions might be conceived' as parts of possible environments satisfying the laws of some design theory in logical sense. This paper describes results in a series of logical studies towards rule and knowledge based systems for design automation. The effective use of programming languages and computers as design aids in architecture presupposes certain capabilities to articulate built environment logically. The use of graphic languages in the description of environmental items e.g. buildings might be theoretically mastered by formal production systems including linguistic, geometric, and spatio-material generation. The combination of the power of formal mechanisms and logical individual calculus offers suitable framework to generate arbitrary e.g. free spatial compositions as types or unique solutions. In this frame it is natural to represent in a coherent way very complex hierarchical parsing of buildings in explicit form as needed in computer implementations. In order to simulate real design work the individual configurations of possible built forms should be designed to satisfy known rules. In the preliminary stage partial solutions to design problems may be discussed in mathematical terms using frameworks like lattices, graphs, or group theoretical considerations of structural, functional, and visual organization of buildings. The capability to produce mathematically sophisticated geometric structures allows us to generalize the approach further. The theoretical design knowhow in architecture can be partly translated in to some logic and represented in a knowledge base. These rules are used as selection criteria for geometric design candidates in the sense of logical model theory and mathematical optimization. The economy of the system can be developed by using suitable conduct mechanisms familiar e.g. from logic programming. The semantics of logic offers a frame to consider computer assisted and formal generation in design. A number of semantic and pragmatic problems, however, remain to be solved. In any case conceptual analyses based on logic are applicable in order to rationally reconstruct architectural goals contributing to the quality of environmental design, which should be the main goal in the development of design systems in near future.
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/03 17:58

_id	8a38
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Parks, Linda M.
year	1987
title	Natural Language Prototypes for Analyzing Design Standards
source	Southampton, U.K: Computational Mechanics Publications, 1987. pp. 147-160
summary	CADLINE has abstract only. This paper addresses the use of natural language processing for acquiring, processing, and representing knowledge from design standards. A standard is a set of provisions providing principles, models, rules, limits, and particulars that are established by some authority for some purpose. In their textual form as written documents, design standards cannot directly be used in computer-aided design (CAD) systems. This paper demonstrates how standards can be transformed, using natural language processing techniques, from their textual form to alternative representations that more readily lend themselves to use in computer-aided design systems, supporting a variety of design applications. The language being transformed is the Building Officials and Code Administrators Building Code, one set of requirements that govern the design of buildings. Prototype computer subsystems have been developed that transform natural language sentences to case-grammar format and finally to subject-relationship- object triplets. The three prototypes that achieve these transformations are described: a parser, a semantic analyzer, and a query system. During one processing cycle, the system identifies that data items in a provision and the relationships between the data items. It also interacts with the user to add new data items to its knowledge bases, to verify data items found, and to add to its vocabulary. Alternatively, it responds to natural-language questions about the contents of the standard by identifying the relevant provisions within the standards. Processing formal documents requires knowledge about vocabulary, word-order, time, semantics, reference, and discourse. Despite the relative clarity of formal writing as it occurs in standards, the difficulties of implied responsibility, multiple meanings, and implied data items remain. A long-term research program at North Carolina State University has been defined that builds on these prototypes to further investigate knowledge acquisition and representation for standards
keywords	design, standards, analysis, AI, natural languages
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	a18d
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Storaasli, Olaf O.
year	1987
title	Educational Fundamentals of Computer-Aided Engineering
source	International Journal of Applied Engineering Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1987. vol. 3: pp. 247-254
summary	The role of computer science is increasing in nearly every engineering discipline. One of the dilemmas in engineering education today is how future engineers can best assimilate the advanced, yet fundamental, knowledge of computer science appropriate for their professional engineering career. This paper suggests that the role of the academic community must be to prepare engineering students to use computer methods and applications as a part of their fundamental engineering education. It is the responsibility of colleges and universities to incorporate contemporary computing fundamentals into their academic curriculum to improve the professional qualifications of their engineering graduates. This paper discusses current educational practices and their shortcomings as well as new options to reinforce and enhance the role of computing in engineering. The key ingredients, operating system fundamentals, data structures, program control and organization, algorithms, and computer architectures (relative to concurrent processing) are discussed. The paper suggests that to convey the essentials of computer science to future engineers requires in part, the addition of computer courses to the engineering curriculum. It also requires a strengthening of the computational content of many others so that the student comes to treat the computer as a fundamental component of his work. Indeed this is a major undertaking but the benefits of advanced computer knowledge by new engineering graduates promises to provide significant future innovations in the engineering profession. The proper tradeoff between engineering fundamentals and computer science is changing with many of the concepts of engineering now being packaged in algorithms or on computer chips. The impact of advances in computer technology on engineering education are therefore discussed. Several of the benefits of enhanced computational expertise by engineers are enumerated and case studies of recent NASA initiatives whose success required that engineers possess an in-depth knowledge of computer science are presented
keywords	CAE, civil engineering, education
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	6683
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Wang, TsoJen E.
year	1987
title	Spike : A Generic Design Standards Processing Expert System
source	Southampton, UK: Computational Mechanics Publications, pp. 241-257. Also published in : Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Engineering International Conference Proceedings (2nd. : 1987 : Boston, MA.)
summary	Standards, codes, and specifications play an important role in the design of buildings, bridges, and other engineering systems. A design configuration must be checked against all standards to ensure that it is acceptable. This process of design conformance checking using standards is often very tedious. The successful automation of conformance checking is one of the components of a comprehensive computer-aided design system. In that past, standards were interpreted and converted into application programs written in procedural programming languages such as FORTRAN. This approach is extremely inflexible and often error-prone. To support a fully automated computer-aided design system, standards must be incorporated into the design process in a more generic and flexible manner. This paper investigates the feasibility of alternatively casting standards in a form suitable for processing in a knowledge-based expert system environment. The emergence of expert systems from artificial intelligence research has provided a technology that readily lends itself to the automation of design standards. Knowledge-based expert systems have become a powerful tool in tackling domains like design where some of the problem-solving knowledge is diverse and ill-structured. Using an expert system tool, a standard can be represented and processed independent of a CAD application program. Two prototype standards processing systems utilizing the production system approach have been constructed and are presented herein. Although the obvious direct translation casting the provisions of a standard as rules in a production system has its advantages, a more generic and flexible representation scheme is proposed herein. The approach advocated in this paper is to represent standards as databases of facts which can be readily and generically processed by an expert system. The database representation is derived from a unified view of standards obtained by using the standards modeling tools proposed by previous researchers in this field during the past decade. Building on this existing technology resulted in a knowledge- based standards processing architecture which is generic, modular, and flexible. An implementation of this architecture is presented and described
keywords	standards, civil engineering, expert systems
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	4910
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Watson, Bruce R.
year	1987
title	A Knowledge-Based Approach to Engineering Information Retrieval and Management
source	London, UK: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1987. pp. 267-295
summary	Building design, construction, operation, maintenance, and control are all processes that have achieved various levels of computer use. Although the degree of computerization varies significantly, one common aspect of the computing needs of each process is an abundance of data in the form of tables, standards, project definition information, catalogs, etc. In most cases this data is stored in files which are independently used for input to stand-alone single-process application programs, such as a structural analysis application. The utility of these independent files is therefore limited to a single application. As concepts of integration of engineering applications evolved, the use of databases and database management systems (DBMS) increased. A number of issues of significant concern emerged. First, there is a need to retrieve data from many independent, possibly widely distributed databases. Second, there is a need for a uniform means of doing so. Third, such databases routinely undergo dynamic change. Changes in a database schema commonly result from the evolution of a design, from changes in the design process itself, and from changes in other subsequent downstream processes. Such continuing changes must be reflected in the database schemas and they subsequently require that application programs be updated and that online users be educated on a continuing basis. This chapter describes a knowledge-based expert system that provides access to and integration of the many underlying databases needed to support the building design/construction process. The unique aspect of the expert system presented in this chapter is its capture of the knowledge that an experienced human user incorporates in his search for data in a database, i.e., it seeks to identify and use the generic knowledge needed to operate a DBMS to retrieve data. This knowledge is used by the interface to enable both the online users and the application programs to request data without knowing the data's location or precisely how to ask for it. Further, the interface makes use of mechanisms that allow the user to request data without knowing the exact name by which it is stored in the database. In doing so it formalizes the levels of complexity of that knowledge and points out the multidisciplinary applications of the research results
keywords	civil engineering, knowledge base, database, expert systems
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	aef1
authors	Rosenman, M.A., Gero, J.S. and Coyne, R.D. (et al)
year	1987
title	SOLAREXPERT : A Prototype Expert System for Passive Solar Energy Design in Housing
source	Canberra: Aust NZ Solar Energy Society, 1987. vol.II: pp. 361-370. Also published in People and Technology - Sun, Climate and Building, edited by V. Szokolay, Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, 1988
summary	Passive solar energy design is not an exact science in which a set of analytical procedures can be followed to produce results. Rather it depends heavily on subjective parameters and experience collected over time which is heuristic by nature. At present this knowledge is available in books but while this knowledge is comprehensive, it is unstructured and not always easy to make use of. A computer-based system allows for flexible interactive dialogue and for the incorporation of analytical procedures which may be required. This paper describes work on SOLAREXPERT, a prototype expert system to aid designers in passive solar energy design for single dwellings. The system operates at a strategic level to provide basic advice on the form of construction and types of passive solar systems and at a spatial zone level to provide more detailed advice on sizes and materials. It allows for modification of the information entered so that users may explore several possibilities
keywords	applications, experience, housing, expert systems, energy, design, architecture
series	CADline
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last changed	2003/05/17 10:17

_id	a60d
authors	Bairstow, Jeffrey N.
year	1987
title	Personal Workstations Redefine Desktop Computing
source	high Technology. March, 1987. pp. 18-23 : ill. includes bibliography: p. 64
summary	Becoming an essential tool in any creative activity, the personal workstations were successfully adopted by software developers for designing both system and application software, by electronics engineers for computer-aided design, and by a wide range of businesses for technical publishing. The rapid adoption of networking and file standards by the workstation manufacturers will undoubtedly put them in a good position to install large networks of both PCs and workstations linked to existing corporate mainframe computers
keywords	hardware, technology, business
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

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