Design tradeoff in interactive design development

Abstract

Designing an object in an interactive design environment is performed by capturing information from interactions of a user, arranging the information into a knowledge graph. When a user changes an aspect of a design, at least one other aspect of the design is identified that is affected by the user's change. By examining the knowledge graph impacts are identified and visualized. A user interface of the interactive design environment provides the ability to edit the knowledge graph. The visualization may be displayed to a user in real time. The visualization may include a radar chart indicating affected aspects of the design. The visualization may highlight a violation of a constraint, or range of a metric based on past designs in the captured interactions. If a design metric falls outside the range of past designs a detailed evaluation of the change to the first aspect of the design may be performed.

Description

DESIGN TRADEOFF IN INTERACTIVE DESIGN DEVELOPMENTTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This application relates to collaborative design environments.BACKGROUND

[0002] Product design often involves multiple aspects spanning many different expertise to cover an entire product lifecycle including performance, aesthetics, and the like. Typically, a product design is evaluated by different experts in a step-by-step manner. For example, mechanical engineers, design engineers, manufacturing engineers, materials engineers, user experience designers, and even customers may test multiple design versions and iterations. As changes by one stakeholder are implemented to satisfy their specific requirements, the overall design must be reevaluated by other stakeholders to ensure that the implemented changes do not affect requirements of another stakeholder. For example, reducing a thickness of a part to reduce material costs may have a detrimental effect on other disciplines, such as structural performance or reduced stiffness. Iterations of product design must therefore produce designs that satisfy all the product requirements. This may be performed through human experts or by design space exploration and optimization software, which is run offline, to generate outputs, and do not interact with a user during the design generation. Interactive environments, such as those involving metaverse-type environments, enable different people to work in different silos and collaborate on a computer aided design (CAD) design with respect to many aspects of the design. However, there is no straightforward way for an engineer to examine tradeoffs with respect to different requirements in a real-time environmentwithout simultaneous input from other experts. Methods to provide real-time analysis of tradeoffs in multi-disciplinary design environments is desired.SUMMARY

[0003] According to embodiments described in this disclosure, a method of designing an object in an interactive design environment includes capturing information from interactions of a user with the interactive design environment, arranging the captured information into a form of a knowledge graph. When a user changes an aspect of a design in the interactive design environment, at least one other aspect of the design is identified that is affected by the user's change. By examining the knowledge graph, potential impacts are identified and a visualization is created. The affected aspect of the design may be a key performance indicator (KPI) of the design or a requirement for the design. A user interface of the interactive design environment provides the ability to edit the knowledge graph. Editing the knowledge graph may include adding or removing a node and adding or removing an edge or editing a feasible range for a design metric. A future design action may be guided based on the captured information and the knowledge graph. The visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design may be displayed to a user in real time. The visualization may include a radar chart indicating the changes affected aspects of the design resulting from the proposed change to the first aspect of the design. The visualization may further highlight a violation of a constraint of the design created by the proposed change to the first aspect of the design or a range of a metric based on past designs stored in the captured interactions. If a design metric falls outside the range of past designs a detailed evaluation of the change to the first aspect of the design may be performed.

[0004] According to embodiments, a system for designing an object in an interactive design environment comprising a computer processor and a non-transitory computer memory in communication with the computer processor. The non-transitory computer memory stores machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of capturing information from interactions of a user with the interactive design environment, arranging the captured information into a form of a knowledge graph, on a condition that a user changes a first aspect of a design in the interactive design environment, identifying at least one other aspect of the design that is affected by the user's change by examining the knowledge graph, and creating a visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design. The at least one other aspect of the design may be a KPI of the design or a requirement for the design. The system may include a user interface of the interactive design environment configured for editing the knowledge graph. Editing the knowledge graph by may include performing at least one of the following: adding or removing a node and adding or removing an edge or editing a feasible range for a design metric. The system may further display the visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design to a user in real time. According to an embodiment, a radar chart indicating the changes to the at least one other aspect of the design resulting from the proposed change to the first aspect of the design.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are best understood from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawingsembodiments that are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific instrumentalities disclosed. Included in the drawings are the following Figures:

[0006] FIG. 1 is an illustration of multi-disciplinary design considerations according to embodiments of this disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system for visualizing a tradeoff for a design change according to embodiments of this disclosure.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram showing the implementation of visualizing a tradeoff for a design change according to embodiments of this disclosure.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer system for a system of visualizing design tradeoffs according to embodiments of this disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a multi-disciplinary design for a product such as a bicycle 101. Various key performance indicators (KPIs) relating to performance of the bicycle 101 may be specified by the manufacturer to achieve performance levels expected by customers, or to provide marketing of the benefits of the bicycle 101. In FIG. 2, two performance indicators 103 and 105 are provided. Aesthetics 107 that provide the overall look and feel of the bicycle's design are included to produce a bicycle 101 that meets the desired look of the final product. Ergonomics 109 provide requirements for providing a comfort and ease of operation of the bicycle 101 by a user. Standards and regulations 111 , such as wheel diameter, or safety requirements placed on bicycles in general may be considered as additional requirements. Materials used to construct thebicycle 101 have associated costs that may need to be managed 113. Manufacturing processes provide measures 114 that may affect the time of constructions, or the quality of the build. An expected product life 115 may be provided that must be met to meet expectations of the marketplace. Other considerations such as sustainability 116 are becoming increasingly important to manufacturers and consumers alike. Transportation costs 117 for getting the product to market add to the overall cost and may be managed to reduce the transportation costs 117 to lower the final price of the product. Requirements resulting from all these disciplines overlap and changes in one discipline may affect the ability of another discipline to comply with its requirements.

[0011] Interactive design environments allow many designers or engineers to work on the design within the same design environment. According to embodiments described in this disclosure, knowledge of how different users are changing the design and how those changes correlate to design requirements across different disciplines is captured. For example, this knowledge may be captured and stored in the form of a knowledge graph. The stored knowledge may be used to guide future design decisions and actions. For example, as a new user changes a first aspect of the design in the interactive design environment, other KPIs or requirements that might be affected by the change are identified and visualized in a user interface. The effects caused by a proposed change may be identified through prior knowledge or may be determined through the results of performance evaluations, such as those performed during simulations. This will allow the user to visualize and consider the trade-off created by the proposed change with respect to effects on other KPIs. These tradeoffs may be displayed in real-time or close to real-time, so the user is aware of the effects of the change as the changes are being created in the CAD tool.

[0012] FIG. 2 is an illustration of an interactive design environment providing tradeoff analysis according to aspects of certain embodiments of this disclosure. The environment 200 contains several components. A knowledge database 203 stores data from past design data including the design variables and requirement metrics across various disciplines. A user interface 201 allows a user to import existing data. Additional new design data is also acquired as a user interacts with the design in the interactive design environment 200.

[0013] A knowledge graph 205 is constructed based on the data and variables defined in the knowledge database 203. The knowledge graph 205 depicts relationships between design variables and design metrics extracted from the knowledge database 203. This data may be extracted by known techniques including statistical methods such as data correlation mining. Nodes in the knowledge graph 205 represent aspects of the design such as dimensions, weight, material cost, manufacturing cost, performance and the like. Edges connection two of the nodes are representative of a relationship between the two nodes. For example, material cost may have a relationship to weight. Each design metric may be linked to a varying number of design variables, depending on the correlations between each linked variable.

[0014] A knowledge graph editor 220 provides an interface to a user allowing the user to edit the knowledge graph 205. For example, a user may add or remove nodes and / or edges. Further, the user may define feasible ranges for design variables and metrics.

[0015] As referenced above, the knowledge database 203 may receive design data from a user interacting with the design environment 220. As the user interacts with the design environment and computes any metrics, the design variables and metrics that are available are automatically saved and stored in the knowledge database 203. For example, metrics may be computed from forward modeling of relevant metrics (e.g., geometric evaluation, physics simulation, or a machine learning model). By way of example, geometric evaluation of weight, maximum width, height and length as a user changes the design. From this material cost and transportation costs may be calculated, further other information such as a size limitation due to product standards and regulations may also be determined. In another example, geometric evaluation of design features such as an overhang angle or feature thickness may be used to evaluate manufacturability, such as feasibility of the design for additive manufacturing. In another example, simulation models such as finite element analysis or other physics-based simulation or machine learning models or a hybrid approach may model performance metrics which may in turn be used to evaluate fatigue for product life and sustainability evaluations.

[0016] Constraints and tradeoffs caused by a proposed change may be visualized and displayed to a user 207. As the knowledge database 203 becomes populated with possible design instances and the associated knowledge graph is constructed, constraints and tradeoffs for those metrics may be visualized 207. As a user varies design variables in the interactive design environment 200, the knowledge graph 205 is queried to identify the affected metrics correlating with the design variables being changed. Visualization may be provided, for example, in real-time where the relevant metrics maybe evaluated in real-time. Violation of any constraints specified may be displayed on a user's display. In one embodiment, affected metrics may be displayed in a radar chart 206 within the interactive design environment. Values of the original design may be displayed alongside values of the new design. For metrics where real-time evaluation of the design values is not possible, the correlation between the design variable change and the metrics may be displayed and contrasted, for example as a positive or negative correlation. Differing correlations may be visualized using different colors for highlight differences.

[0017] Ranges for metrics that are stored in the knowledge database 203 may also be displayed to a user to notify the user of the value of the current design metric with respect to the range of designs evaluated in the past. For example, parallel plots may be used to visualize the values and ranges of multiple metrics in parallel for the past designs explored. If a design metric falls outside the range of past designs, the user may likely do a detailed evaluation of the proposed change using data used to populate the knowledge database 203.

[0018] Additionally, a metric of uncertainty for each tradeoff may be calculated and provided as part of the tradeoff visualization. In this way, the user may visualize the likelihood that a proposed change will impact another aspect of the design. This may inform the appropriate action with respect to the proposed change.

[0019] FIG. 3 shows a process flow diagram for visualizing tradeoffs in an interactive design environment according to embodiments of this disclosure. As user's interact with the design environment, actions made by the users are stored as knowledge in a knowledge base 301. From the various actions, a knowledge graph is constructed torepresent the captured knowledge 302. When a change is made by a user in the interactive design environment, associated aspects of the design that will be affected by the change may be determined through the knowledge graph 303. Changes for the associated aspects may be computed and displayed to the user to visualize design tradeoffs arising from the proposed change 304.

[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary computing environment 400 within which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. Computers and computing environments, such as computer system 410 and computing environment 400, are known to those of skill in the art and thus are described briefly here.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 4, the computer system 410 may include a communication mechanism such as a system bus 421 or other communication mechanism for communicating information within the computer system 410. The computer system 410 further includes one or more processors 420 coupled with the system bus 421 for processing the information.

[0022] The processors 420 may include one or more central processing units (CPUs), graphical processing units (GPUs), or any other processor known in the art. More generally, a processor as used herein is a device for executing machine-readable instructions stored on a computer readable medium, for performing tasks and may comprise any one or combination of, hardware and firmware. A processor may also comprise memory storing machine-readable instructions executable for performing tasks. A processor acts upon information by manipulating, analyzing, modifying, converting or transmitting information for use by an executable procedure or an information device, and / or by routing the information to an output device. A processor may use or comprisethe capabilities of a computer, controller or microprocessor, for example, and be conditioned using executable instructions to perform special purpose functions not performed by a general-purpose computer. A processor may be coupled (electrically and / or as comprising executable components) with any other processor enabling interaction and / or communication there-between. A user interface processor or generator is a known element comprising electronic circuitry or software or a combination of both for generating display images or portions thereof. A user interface comprises one or more display images enabling user interaction with a processor or other device.

[0023] Continuing with reference to FIG. 4, the computer system 410 also includes a system memory 430 coupled to the system bus 421 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processors 420. The system memory 430 may include computer readable storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 431 and / or random-access memory (RAM) 432. The RAM 432 may include other dynamic storage device(s) (e.g., dynamic RAM, static RAM, and synchronous DRAM). The ROM 431 may include other static storage device(s) (e.g., programmable ROM, erasable PROM, and electrically erasable PROM). In addition, the system memory 430 may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions by the processors 420. A basic input / output system 433 (BIOS) containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 410, such as during start-up, may be stored in the ROM 431 . RAM 432 may contain data and / or program modules that are immediately accessible to and / or presently being operated on by the processors 420.System memory 430 may additionally include, for example, operating system 434, application programs 435, other program modules 436 and program data 437.

[0024] The computer system 410 also includes a disk controller 440 coupled to the system bus 421 to control one or more storage devices for storing information and instructions, such as a magnetic hard disk 441 and a removable media drive 442 (e.g., floppy disk drive, compact disc drive, tape drive, and / or solid-state drive). Storage devices may be added to the computer system 410 using an appropriate device interface (e.g., a small computer system interface (SCSI), integrated device electronics (IDE), Universal Serial Bus (USB), or FireWire).

[0025] The computer system 410 may also include a display controller 465 coupled to the system bus 421 to control a display or monitor 466, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD), for displaying information to a computer user. The computer system includes an input interface 460 and one or more input devices, such as a keyboard 462 and a pointing device 461 , for interacting with a computer user and providing information to the processors 420. The pointing device 461 , for example, may be a mouse, a light pen, a trackball, or a pointing stick for communicating direction information and command selections to the processors 420 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 466. The display 466 may provide a touch screen interface which allows input to supplement or replace the communication of direction information and command selections by the pointing device 461. In some embodiments, an augmented reality device 467 that is wearable by a user, may provide input / output functionality allowing a user to interact with both a physical and virtual world. The augmented reality device 467 is in communication with the display controller 465 and theuser input interface 460 allowing a user to interact with virtual items generated in the augmented reality device 467 by the display controller 465. The user may also provide gestures that are detected by the augmented reality device 467 and transmitted to the user input interface 460 as input signals.

[0026] The computer system 410 may perform a portion or all of the processing steps of embodiments of the invention in response to the processors 420 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in a memory, such as the system memory 430. Such instructions may be read into the system memory 430 from another computer readable medium, such as a magnetic hard disk 441 or a removable media drive 442. The magnetic hard disk 441 may contain one or more datastores and data files used by embodiments of the present invention. Datastore contents and data files may be encrypted to improve security. The processors 420 may also be employed in a multiprocessing arrangement to execute the one or more sequences of instructions contained in system memory 430. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions. Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

[0027] As stated above, the computer system 410 may include at least one computer readable medium or memory for holding instructions programmed according to embodiments of the invention and for containing data structures, tables, records, or other data described herein. The term “computer readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to the processors 420 for execution. A computer readable medium may take many forms including, but not limited to, non- transitory, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-limitingexamples of non-volatile media include optical disks, solid state drives, magnetic disks, and magneto-optical disks, such as magnetic hard disk 441 or removable media drive 442. Non-limiting examples of volatile media include dynamic memory, such as system memory 430. Non-limiting examples of transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that make up the system bus 421 . Transmission media may also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications.

[0028] The computing environment 400 may further include the computer system 410 operating in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computing device 480. Remote computing device 480 may be a personal computer (laptop or desktop), a mobile device, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to computer system 410. When used in a networking environment, computer system 410 may include modem 472 for establishing communications over a network 471 , such as the Internet. Modem 472 may be connected to system bus 421 via user network interface 470, or via another appropriate mechanism.

[0029] Network 471 may be any network or system generally known in the art, including the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a direct connection or series of connections, a cellular telephone network, or any other network or medium capable of facilitating communication between computer system 410 and other computers (e.g., remote computing device 480). The network 471 may be wired, wireless or a combination thereof. Wired connections may be implemented using Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), RJ-6, or any other wired connection generally known in the art. Wireless connections may be implemented using Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and Bluetooth, infrared, cellular networks, satellite or any other wireless connection methodology generally known in the art. Additionally, several networks may work alone or in communication with each other to facilitate communication in the network 471.

[0030] An executable application, as used herein, comprises code or machine- readable instructions for conditioning the processor to implement predetermined functions, such as those of an operating system, a context data acquisition system or other information processing system, for example, in response to user command or input. An executable procedure is a segment of code or machine-readable instruction, subroutine, or other distinct section of code or portion of an executable application for performing one or more particular processes. These processes may include receiving input data and / or parameters, performing operations on received input data and / or performing functions in response to received input parameters, and providing resulting output data and / or parameters.

[0031] A graphical user interface (GUI), as used herein, comprises one or more display images, generated by a display processor and enabling user interaction with a processor or other device and associated data acquisition and processing functions. The GUI also includes an executable procedure or executable application. The executable procedure or executable application conditions the display processor to generate signals representing the GUI display images. These signals are supplied to a display device which displays the image for viewing by the user. The processor, under control of an executable procedure or executable application, manipulates the GUI display images inresponse to signals received from the input devices. In this way, the user may interact with the display image using the input devices, enabling user interaction with the processor or other device.

[0032] The functions and process steps herein may be performed automatically or wholly or partially in response to user command. An activity (including a step) performed automatically is performed in response to one or more executable instructions or device operation without user direct initiation of the activity.

[0033] The system and processes of the figures are not exclusive. Other systems, processes and menus may be derived in accordance with the principles of the invention to accomplish the same objectives. Although this invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodiments and variations shown and described herein are for illustration purposes only. Modifications to the current design may be implemented by those skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention. As described herein, the various systems, subsystems, agents, managers and processes can be implemented using hardware components, software components, and / or combinations thereof.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A method of designing an object in an interactive design environment comprising: capturing information from interactions of a user with the interactive design environment; arranging the captured information into a form of a knowledge graph; on a condition that a user changes a first aspect of a design in the interactive design environment, identifying at least one other aspect of the design that is affected by the user's change by examining the knowledge graph; and creating a visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design.

2. The method of Claim 1 , wherein the at least one other aspect of the design comprises a key performance indicator (KPI) of the design.

3. The method of Claim 1 , wherein the at least one other aspect of the design is a requirement for the design.

4. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: in a user interface of the interactive design environment, editing the knowledge graph.

5. The method of Claim 4, further comprising: editing the knowledge graph by performing at least one of the following: adding or removing a node and adding or removing an edge.

6. The method of Claim 4, further comprising:editing the knowledge graph by editing a feasible range for a design metric.

7. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: guiding a future design action based on the captured information and the knowledge graph.

8. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: displaying the visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design to a user in real time.

9. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: displaying as an aspect of the visualization, a radar chart indicating the changes to the at least one other aspect of the design resulting from the proposed change to the first aspect of the design.

10. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: displaying as an aspect of the visualization, highlighting a violation of a constraint of the design created by the proposed change to the first aspect of the design.11 . The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: displaying as an aspect of the visualization, at least one design metric affected by the change to the first aspect with respect to a range of that metric from past designs stored in the captured interactions.

12. The method of Claim 9, further comprising: on a condition that at least one design metric falls outside the range of past designs, performing a detailed evaluation of the change to the first aspect of the design.

13. A system for designing an object in an interactive design environment comprising: a computer processor; and a non-transitory computer memory in communication with the computer processor, the non-transitory computer memory storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of: capturing information from interactions of a user with the interactive design environment; arranging the captured information into a form of a knowledge graph; on a condition that a user changes a first aspect of a design in the interactive design environment, identifying at least one other aspect of the design that is affected by the user's change by examining the knowledge graph; and creating a visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design.

14. The system of Claim 13, wherein the at least one other aspect of the design comprises a key performance indicator (KPI) of the design.

15. The system of Claim 13, wherein the at least one other aspect of the design is a requirement for the design.

16. The system of Claim 13, the non-transitory computer memory further storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of:in a user interface of the interactive design environment, editing the knowledge graph.

17. The system of Claim 16, the non-transitory computer memory further storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of: editing the knowledge graph by performing at least one of the following: adding or removing a node and adding or removing an edge.

18. The system of Claim 16, the non-transitory computer memory further storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of: editing the knowledge graph by editing a feasible range for a design metric.

19. The system of Claim 13, the non-transitory computer memory further storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of: displaying the visualization of the effect on the at least one other aspect of the design to a user in real time.

20. The system of Claim 13, the non-transitory computer memory further storing machine-readable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer to perform the steps of: displaying as an aspect of the visualization, a radar chart indicating the changes to the at least one other aspect of the design resulting from the proposed change to the first aspect of the design.

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