System-level approach to goal-driven design

Abstract

A design application is configured to perform a system-level optimization of a collection of system components. The design application iteratively executes a multi-objective solver to optimize structural and functional relationships between the system components in order to meet global design criteria and generate a system design. The design application initializes the design process by extracting from a knowledge base system templates having taxonomic, structural, or functional attributes relevant to the system design. The design application generates the knowledge base by mining taxonomic, structural, and functional relationships from a corpus of engineering texts.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for generating a design for a system, the method comprising:
 receiving a first set of criteria comprising one or more criteria associated with components of the system and one or more system-level criteria; and   generating a system model representing the components and connections between the components based on the first set of criteria.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the system model comprises performing one or more optimization operations and one or more topology generation operations based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein generating the system model further comprises adjusting at least one of connectivity between the components, disposition of the components relative to each other, or materials of the components based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the system model comprises:
 performing one or more optimization operations on geometry of the components based on the one or more criteria associated with the components; and   performing one or more additional optimization operations on the geometry of the components based on the one or more system-level criteria.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the system model is further generated based on one or more templates associated with at least one of taxonomic, structural, or functional aspects of the system. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein generating the system model comprises updating the one or more templates based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of criteria further comprises at least one of design constraints or boundary conditions. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more criteria associated with the components comprise at least one of a force exerted by one of the components on another of the components, a type of connection between two of the components, or a distance between two of the components. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more system-level criteria comprise at least one of a total mass of the system or a total cost of the system. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a second set of criteria; and   updating the system model based on the second set of criteria.   
     
     
         11 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:
 receiving a first set of criteria comprising one or more criteria associated with components of a system and one or more system-level criteria; and   generating a system model representing the components and connections between the components based on the first set of criteria.   
     
     
         12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein generating the system model comprises performing one or more optimization operations and one or more topology generation operations based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 12 , wherein generating the system model further comprises adjusting at least one of connectivity between the components, disposition of the components relative to each other, or materials of the components based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein generating the system model comprises:
 performing one or more optimization operations on geometry of the components based on the one or more criteria associated with the components; and   performing one or more additional optimization operations on the geometry of the components based on the one or more system-level criteria.   
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the system model is further generated based on one or more templates associated with at least one of taxonomic, structural, or functional aspects of the system. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein generating the system model comprises updating the one or more templates based on the first set of criteria. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the first set of criteria further comprises at least one of design constraints or boundary conditions. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more criteria associated with the components comprise at least one of a force exerted by one of the components on another of the components, a type of connection between two of the components, or a distance between two of the components. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more system-level criteria comprise at least one of a total mass of the system or a total cost of the system. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving a second set of criteria; and   updating the system model based on the second set of criteria.   
     
     
         21 . A computer system, comprising:
 one or more memories storing instructions; and   one or more processors that are coupled to the one or more memories and, when executing the instructions, are configure to perform the steps of:
 receiving a first set of criteria comprising one or more criteria associated with components of a system and one or more system-level criteria; and 
 generating a system model representing the components and connections between the components based on the first set of criteria. 
   
     
     
         22 . The computer system of  claim 21 , wherein the computer system comprises a server machine. 
     
     
         23 . The computer system of  claim 21 , wherein the computer system comprises a user device.