Using a knowledge-based intelligent system to support dynamic design reasoning for a collaborative design community

Traditional computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) tools have their limitations in supporting quick-to-market, mass-customized product development environments. The present paper proposes a general integrated framework of design knowledge representation and develops a knowledge-based intelligent system (KBIS) to facilitate dynamic design reasoning. Owing to the increasing complexity of product design, the traditional design (knowledge) rules can no longer help facilitate complex product development, which requires flexible design knowledge adoption and collaborators' interaction during design inference processes. Therefore, this research enhances the abilities of smart collaborative design reasoning. A conceptual architecture for the KBIS is presented to enable a collaborative design community to reason feasible design parameters and to integrate all sub-system designs of a product. Finally, a case study of designing an air compressor and its sub-system (V-type belt) is presented to demonstrate the unique features of the KBIS. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2006.