TOWARDS GENETIC MODELING OF MACHINES FOR ENGINEERING DESIGN SYNTHESIS
Year: 2015
Editor: Christian Weber, Stephan Husung, Marco Cantamessa, Gaetano Cascini, Dorian Marjanovic, Srinivasan Venkataraman
Author: Shah, Jami
Series: ICED
Institution: Arizona State University, United States of America
Section: Design Theory and Research Methodology, Design Processes
Page(s): 155-164
ISBN: 978-1-904670-65-0
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
A novel physics based model of engineered artifacts is described analogical to molecular biology which tells us function and behavior are encoded in organisms. Each gene encodes what particular protein is to be made, and the protein performs the same function as part of a cell or organism. In our model a gene is equivalent to a working principle. Combinations of genes appear in chromosomes which makes them equivalent to working structures. Since proteins are the physical function carriers, they can be considered equivalent to physical embodiment of a design, and cells/organs are analogous to machine parts or sub-systems. The amino acids and their arrangement in proteins determines the behavior of the protein. In an abstract sense, this is equivalent to a the behavior of the working structure of a machine component. Each individual organism has unique DNA, so also each designed artifact has a unique working structure (although identical designed and manufactured parts could nominally be considered clones). Each class of designed artifacts can be defined by its genome.
Keywords: Design Informatics, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Conceptual Design