Title: Partially autonomous conceptual development of multifunctional structures

Authors: Yuemin Hou, Linhong Ji

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing, China. ' Department of Precision Instrument and Mechanology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Abstract: Partially autonomous conceptual development of Multifunctional Structures (MFSs) is achieved using an analogy with two mechanisms found in embryo development in biology: induction and gene transcription. The induction model is achieved autonomously using rule-based reasoning. Gene transcription is partially autonomously achieved through dualism. Weighted graphs and weighted dual graphs are used to represent the design concepts visually. An example illustrated the application of the method. The graph-and-matrix-based representations, together with the induction and duality-based transformations, convey the design concept from functions to structures and formulate the conceptual development.

Keywords: bio-inspired design; MFS; multifunctional structures; transformation; dual graphs; embryo development; induction; gene transcription; rule-based reasoning; weighted graphs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2011.038547

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2011 Vol.40 No.1/2, pp.13 - 22

Published online: 10 Feb 2011 *

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