Design support system and design support method

Abstract

To facilitate understanding an item and a reason for a design change and improve the design efficiency of a product.SOLUTION: A design support system, with respect to a first design plan and a second design plan described in a natural language, for each design item of the second design plan changed relative to the first design plan, extracts each data on a design value of the first design plan relating to the design item, a design value of the second design plan relating to the design item, and a change reason from data on the first design plan and the second design plan, generates, as data relating to a design change from the first design plan to the second design plan, a design change reason database in which each data on the design item, the design value of the first design plan, the design value of the second design plan, and the change reason is registered, and outputs, on the basis of design change reason database, as the data relating to the design change from the first design plan to the second design plan, each data on the design item, the design value of the first design plan, the design value of the second design plan, and the change reason, to an output device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for design support.

Background Art

[0002] In the field of designing products, systems, etc. (hereinafter referred to as products), there are cases where an existing design proposal is modified to create a new design proposal, such as so-called "derivative design". When making a design change, the design change may affect existing functions and cause problems, resulting in rework and an increase in design man-hours. Therefore, in order to grasp the impact caused by the design change, it is important to know the reasons for the design change, etc. Storing in a database and accumulating the items to be changed, the reasons for the change, the scope of influence, etc. for past design changes is desirable from the viewpoint of suppressing mistakes and rework in the design of similar products.

[0003] On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a drawing management device having: a reception means for receiving input of information regarding a specific object and information indicating the purpose of change when making a design change to the object; a search means for searching for a pair of drawings having characteristics similar to the object and corresponding to before and after the change is made along the purpose of change based on the two pieces of received information; and a presentation means for presenting the searched pair of drawings to the user.

[0004] Also, Patent Document 2 discloses a design support system including: a reuse location designation unit for receiving designation of a reuse location in an existing design model; a model extraction unit for extracting model elements from the design model within the designated range as the reuse location; a similarity calculation unit for calculating the similarity between the extracted model elements and non-reusable model elements connected thereto and model elements of other design models; and a connection candidate creation unit for creating connection candidates for the model elements to be reused from the similarity, the connection information included in the design model in which the reuse location is designated, and the connection information included in other design models.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-57113 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2021 / 024791 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a design change is made, drawings that match the purpose of the change are searched for and drawings with similar features are presented to the user. However, in actual design, most design information, such as product requirements and design values, is written in natural language in design documents such as requirements specifications. Therefore, in order to understand the impact of a design change, it is necessary to examine the design information written in the design documents, which is difficult to address with the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1.

[0007] Furthermore, in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 mentioned above, a new design model is created by reusing an existing design model. However, it does not allow for the identification of changes from the existing design or the reasons for those changes. Therefore, it is difficult for designers to grasp the scope of impact caused by design changes, and there is room for improvement in terms of effectively suppressing the occurrence of design errors.

[0008] This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a design support system and a design support method that can make it easier to understand the design changes and the reasons for those changes, and improve the design efficiency of products. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a design support system for assisting in the design of a product, comprising a storage device and a processing device, wherein the processing device records a design change reason database in the storage device, which registers data on the reasons for design changes from a first design proposal described in natural language to a second design proposal described in natural language, and for each design item of the second design proposal that has been changed from the first design proposal, the processing device registers data on the design values ​​of the first design proposal related to the design item, the design values ​​of the second design proposal related to the design item, and the reasons for the change, which are not registered in the design change reason database. The system provides a design support system that extracts data from the data of the first and second design proposals, registers the design items, design values ​​of the first design proposal, design values ​​of the second design proposal, and the reason for the change as data relating to the design change from the first design proposal to the second design proposal in the design change reason database, and outputs the design items, design values ​​of the first design proposal, design values ​​of the second design proposal, and the reason for the change as data relating to the design change from the first design proposal to the second design proposal based on the design change reason database in response to a request signal from an input device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to make it easier to understand the design changes and the reasons for those changes, thereby improving the design efficiency of the product. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram showing one configuration of a design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A schematic diagram showing an example of the database configuration of a design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3A] An example of a first design document stored in the database of a design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 3B] An example of a second design document stored in the database of a design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 4]Data flow diagram showing the overview of the MBSE model generation and output process by the design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 5] Figure showing an example of the design change reason reception screen of the design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 6] Figure showing a configuration example of the design change reason database of the design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 7] Flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the change calculation unit of the design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 8] Schematic diagram showing a configuration example of the processing device of the design support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention [Figure 9] Data flow diagram showing the overview of the MBSE model generation and output process by the design support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention [Figure 10] Figure showing an example of the MBSE model according to the present invention [Figure 11] Schematic diagram showing an example of the use of the database of the design support system according to the present invention

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Although the drawings show specific examples of the creation of the technical idea of the present invention, the illustrated embodiments are examples for facilitating the understanding of the technical idea of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately changed without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

[0013] (First Embodiment) -System Overview- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a design support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The design support system of the present embodiment is a system for supporting the design of a product and is realized by a computer 10. The design support system may be virtually realized by software or may be realized by hardware such as an electronic circuit.

[0014] The computer 10 is equipped with a storage device 11 and a processing device 12. An input device 13 such as a keyboard or a mouse, and an output device 14 such as a display device like an LCD or a printer are connected to the computer 10. It is also possible to use a touch panel for the output device 14 so that the output device 14 also serves as an input device. A database 20 is stored in the storage device 11. The processing device 12 is equipped with a design change reason reception unit 101, a change calculation unit 102, and an output unit 103. The design change reason reception unit 101, the change calculation unit 102, and the output unit 103 are functions of the processing device 12 and may be virtually realized by software or may be realized by hardware such as an electronic circuit. The processing device 12 is not limited to a processing device (such as a CPU) built into the computer 10 and may include a processing device (such as a server) physically connected to the computer 10 or connected via a network.

[0015] - Storage device - The storage device 11 is composed of, for example, one or more hard disks, SSDs, etc., and stores the database 20 used for the processing of the processing device 12 in an electronic file format or a database format such as a relational database. The database 20 is a collection of data related to the processing of the processing device 12. The storage device 11 is not limited to a storage device built into the computer 10 and may include a storage device physically connected to the computer 10 or connected via a network.

[0016] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of the database 20. As shown in this figure, the database 20 includes a design change reason DB 21, a design document DB 22, and an MBSE model DB 23. These databases can be recorded in the storage device 11 by the processing device 12.

[0017] · Design document DB The design document database DB22 is a design document database that stores data from multiple documents related to product design, including the first design proposal written in natural language and the second design proposal written in natural language after modifying the first design proposal. Natural language is typically stored in the form of text data, and even if the design documents are stored as images on paper, natural language can be converted into text data through character recognition processing. The first and second design proposals have a relationship between the product on which the design is based and the design proposal for the product designed based on it, and there is not limited to one set, but typically multiple sets are stored in the design document database DB22. In addition, there may be multiple second design proposals for one first design proposal, and one second design proposal may be based on multiple first design proposals. Both the first and second design proposals may include not only natural language information but also diagrams and charts.

[0018] Figures 3A and 3B show examples of design documents stored in the design document DB22. Figure 3A is an example of the design document (first design proposal) for product A, and Figure 3B is an example of the design document (second design proposal) for product B. Products A and B are similar products or different versions of the same product. Figures 3A and 3B illustrate the case where both the design documents for products A and B include both a requirements specification and a design document.

[0019] The requirements specification document describes, for example, the specifications required by the client for products A and B, in natural language or other means. In the example in Figure 3A, the client's requirements are listed as requirements, such as "1a: Product A must be usable in country X," "1b: The resolution must be the same as the conventional product," and "1c: The maximum speed must be set to meet the safety standards of country X." In the example in Figure 3B, the client's requirements are listed as requirements, such as "1a: The usage area for product B is limited to countries Y and Z," "1b: The resolution must be the same as the conventional product," and "1c: The safety standards of countries Y and Z are as follows, so the maximum speed must be set accordingly." In the examples in Figures 3A and 3B, the requirements are described concisely in bullet points, but in reality, the client's requirements may also be described in a flow of text. Furthermore, although this specification uses the term "requirements specification," the equivalent items may be referred to differently in design documents.

[0020] On the other hand, the design document contains, in natural language or other means, some or all of the design objectives, design items, and design values ​​set by the contractor to realize the requirements. If there is a past product that serves as the basis for the design, the design document may also contain some or all of the information about the base product, the design changes, and the reasons for the design changes. The design objective is the main design objective for realizing the requirements, and the design items are the items that should be specifically designed to meet the requirements. In the example in Figure 3A, "input voltage," "resolution," and "maximum speed" are listed. The design values ​​are the specific values ​​for the design items. In the example in Figure 3A, the input voltage is set to "110kV," the resolution to "20mm," and the maximum speed to "15km." When design items are associated with requirements in this way, the corresponding requirement number (1a, 1b, 1c, etc.) may be appended to the design item column, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B. Furthermore, if product B is created based on the design proposal of product A, and the design proposal of product B is created by modifying the design proposal of product A, the design document in Figure 3B may describe the product on which "product A" is based, the design items and design values ​​to be changed as design changes, and the reason for the change as literally the reason for the design change. For example, in the design documents for products A and B, the change in the input voltage from 110kV to 220kV is an example of a design change. Also, the change in the product's usage region from country X to countries Y and Z is an example of a reason for the change. However, although this specification uses terms such as "design purpose," "design items," "design values," "based product," "design changes," and "reason for design change," the names of equivalent matters may differ depending on the design document, and they may also be described in text without being listed as items.

[0021] • Design change reason database The Design Change Reasons DB21 is a database that registers data such as the reasons for design changes from the first design to the second design. Initially, the Design Change Reasons DB21 may contain no registered data, or it may have a certain amount of initial data registered from the start. The registered data will be expanded as the design support system is operated.

[0022] • MBSE Model DB The MBSE Model DB23 is a database for registering MBSE model data to verify the change history and reasons for design changes from the first design to the second design. The "MBSE model" is a model that uses diagrams and tables to represent the data related to design changes from the first design to the second design, including design items, design values ​​for the first design, design values ​​for the second design, and reasons for the design changes, providing excellent overview of reasons for changes.

[0023] Incidentally, MBSE (Model-Based Systems Engineering) has been proposed as an efficient method for product requirements analysis, design, and verification. MBSE is systems engineering that utilizes MBSE models. The MBSE model described in this specification is a structural representation, such as graphs, that visually and easily understands the relationships between product and product design information, including the component structure, required functions, and design parameters. By utilizing MBSE models, design efficiency and error reduction can be achieved. However, creating an MBSE model from design documents written in natural language generally requires a great deal of effort.

[0024] - Processing Unit - The processing unit 12 has the function of appropriately recording each of the aforementioned databases in the storage device 11, and outputting an MBSE model to the output device 14 based on the MBSE model DB 23 for design items from the first design proposal to the second design proposal that have been requested by the user through the operation of the input device 13. At this time, the data stored in MBSEDB 23 is a part of the data stored in the design change reason DB 21. In the process of storing data in MBSEDB 23, if there is a shortage of data in the design change reason DB 21 for design items from the first design proposal to the second design proposal, the processing unit 12 has the function of extracting the missing data from the design document DB 22.

[0025] In summary, the processing unit 12 first extracts, from the design document DB 22, unregistered data that is not registered in the design change reason DB 21, regarding the design items of the second design proposal which have been modified from the first design proposal, including the design values ​​of the first design proposal related to the modified design items, the design values ​​of the second design proposal related to the modified design items, and the reasons for the changes related to the modified design items.

[0026] When the relevant data is extracted from the design document DB22, the processing unit 12 registers (updates) the design change reason DB21 with the extracted data, supplementing it with data related to the design change from the first design proposal to the second design proposal, including the design items, the design values ​​of the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the second design proposal, and the reason for the change.

[0027] As a result, the processing unit 12, in response to a request signal input from the input device 13 in response to user operation, models the design items, design values ​​for the first design, design values ​​for the second design, and reasons for the change as data related to the design change from the first design to the second design, using diagrams and tables, etc., and outputs it to the output device 14 as an MBSE model.

[0028] As a specific means of realizing this series of processes, the processing unit 12 is equipped with the above-mentioned design change reason receiving unit 101, change calculation unit 102, and output unit 103.

[0029] Figure 4 is a data flow diagram illustrating the overview of the MBSE model generation and output process by the processing unit 12.

[0030] The processing unit 12 outputs a design change reason reception screen (input screen) to the output device 14 via the design change reason reception unit 101 in response to a request signal input by the user in conjunction with the operation of the user's input device 13. In this embodiment, the processing unit 12 acquires data on design items and design change reasons arbitrarily entered by the user on the design change reason reception screen as design items and design change reasons related to the design change of the second design proposal relative to the first design proposal. The processing unit 12 registers the acquired design items and design change reasons in the design change reason DB 21, linked to the specified first and second design proposals.

[0031] Figure 5 shows an example of a design change reason submission screen. The design change reason submission screen 501 shown in the figure is displayed on the output device 14 by operating the input device 13 on a predetermined screen displayed on the output device 14 and specifying the first design proposal and the second design proposal from the design documents stored in the design document DB 22. As shown in Figure 5, the design change reason submission screen 501 displays input fields for at least the design item and the reason for the design change. Input fields for the design value before the change (design value of the first design proposal) or the design value after the change (design value of the second design proposal) may also be displayed for the design item. The data entered in each field of the design change reason submission screen 501 is stored in the design change reason DB 21 as described above.

[0032] Figure 6 illustrates the data structure of the Design Change Reason DB21. The data related to each design change stored in the Design Change Reason DB21 includes at least the following items: the design items changed between the first and second design proposals, the design values ​​before the change, the design values ​​after the change, the ID of the corresponding requirement specification, and the data for the reason for the design change. The design values ​​before and after the design change may be combined into a single item, for example, "Design Change Points".

[0033] Returning to Figure 4, the processing unit 12, using the change calculation unit 102, determines whether the design value data for the first and second design proposals related to the design items for the relevant design change is registered in the design change reason DB 21 based on the data acquired by the design change reason reception unit 101. If this determination is not met, for example, it may be because the design change reason reception screen 501 does not have input fields for the design values ​​before and after the design change, or even if there are input fields, the data was not entered. If the data for at least one of the design values ​​for the first and second design proposals is not registered in the design change reason DB 21, the processing unit 12, using the change calculation unit 102, reads the data for at least one of the relevant first and second design proposals from the design document DB 22 and extracts the unregistered design value data from at least one of these data for the first and second design proposals. The processing unit 12 registers the extracted design value data in the design change reason DB 21, linking it to the design change of the second design proposal to the relevant first design proposal, and supplements the missing data related to the design change. In this embodiment, an example of extracting unregistered data from the design document DB22 has been described, but the design support system does not necessarily need to have a design document DB22. For example, if data for the first design proposal and the second design proposal are recorded in the database of another system connected to the processing unit 12 via a network, the processing unit 12 can be configured to read the data for the first design proposal and the second design proposal from the database of the other system and extract the unregistered data.

[0034] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure by the change calculation unit 102.

[0035] In step S701, the processing unit 12 refers to the design change reason DB 21 for the design items related to the design change obtained by the design change reason reception unit 101.

[0036] In step S702, the processing unit 12 determines whether the pre-design value of the design item referenced in step S701 is registered. Specifically, if the pre-design value of the corresponding design item exists in the design change reason DB21, it is determined to be registered; otherwise, it is determined to be unregistered. If the pre-design value is registered, the processing unit 12 proceeds to step S704; otherwise, it proceeds to step S703.

[0037] When the procedure moves to step S703, the processing unit 12 identifies the design document for the target product before the design change (i.e., the first design proposal) from the design document DB 22 based on the data obtained by the design change reason reception unit 101, searches for the corresponding design items from the identified design document, and extracts the design values ​​of the searched design items (i.e., the design values ​​before the design change). Natural language processing is applied to the extraction of design items and design values. For example, in the field of natural language processing, rule-based search methods based on regular representations, morphological analysis, and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) can be used to extract design items and design values.

[0038] When the procedure moves from step S702 or S703 to step S704, the processing unit 12 determines whether the design value of the design item referenced in step S701 after the design change has been registered. This determination process is the same as in step S702; if the design value of the design item after the design change exists in the design change reason DB21, it is determined to be registered, and if it does not exist, it is determined to be unregistered. If the design value before the design change has been registered, the processing unit 12 terminates the procedure in Figure 7, and if it is unregistered, it moves to step S705.

[0039] When the procedure moves to step S705, the processing unit 12 extracts the design value of the design item after the design change from the design document DB22 using the same method as in step S703.

[0040] The design values ​​before and after the design change, extracted through the processes from S701 to S705 above, are stored in the Design Change Reason DB21 as a dataset linked to the design items and the reasons for the design change, and the Design Change Reason DB21 is updated.

[0041] Returning to Figure 4, the processing unit 12, in response to a request signal input by the user through operation of the input device 13, uses the output unit 103 to save at least a portion of the data from the design change reason DB 21 to the MBSEDB 23 as a database or file of an MBSE model that displays data related to the design change. Alternatively, it outputs the data to the output device 14 as an MBSE model in a visually easy-to-read format, using text, tables, images, etc., as appropriate, for the user to view. The output format differs depending on the output device 14; if the output device 14 is a monitor, the MBSE model is displayed; if it is a printer, it is printed; and if it is a storage medium, it is recorded.

[0042] -effect- According to this embodiment, as described above, by simply inputting design items and reasons related to design changes, an MBSE model with excellent visual overview, including the reasons for design changes, can be automatically created. By calling up and referring to this MBSE model as needed, users can easily and efficiently grasp the key points of the history of past design changes of a target product, such as the changed design items and the reasons for the design changes. Various effects can be expected, such as improved product design efficiency, reduction of design errors, and shortening of the design process.

[0043] (Second Embodiment) In this embodiment as well, the processing unit 12 has the function of outputting an MBSE model to the output device 14 based on the MBSE model DB23 for design items from the first design proposal to the second design proposal that have been requested by the user through the operation of the input device 13. The difference between the first embodiment and this embodiment is that in the first embodiment, the processing unit 12 obtained the reason for the design change through an input procedure, whereas in this embodiment, the processing unit 12 compares the first design proposal and the second design proposal stored in the design document DB22, extracts the design items of the second design proposal that have been changed from the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the first and second design proposals related to the design items, and the reason for the design change, and registers them in the design change reason DB21.

[0044] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing one example configuration of the processing unit 12 of a design support system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The processing unit 12 of this embodiment includes a comparison target designation unit 201, a design item extraction unit 202, a design change identification unit 203, a design change reason extraction unit 204, and an MBSE model generation unit 205. The comparison target designation unit 201, the design item extraction unit 202, the design change identification unit 203, the design change reason extraction unit 204, and the MBSE model generation unit 205 may be virtually implemented by software or by hardware such as electronic circuits.

[0045] Figure 9 shows a data flow diagram illustrating the overview of the MBSE model generation and output process by the processing unit of this embodiment. In the second embodiment, the processing unit 12 takes the design document DB22 as input. The database 20, including the design document DB22, is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0046] The comparison target designation unit 201 has the function of outputting an input screen (not shown) to the output device 14 in response to, for example, the user's operation of the input device 13, receiving the designation of a first design proposal and a second design proposal related to the design change, and extracting the corresponding design document from the design document DB 22. For each design change, at least one first design proposal and one second design proposal are designated. As mentioned above, typically, the first design proposal and the second design proposal are design proposals for similar products, or design proposals for different versions of the same product. For example, the target product that has been redesigned from the basic product (the product related to the second design proposal) can be designated as "Target product: Product A," and the product to be compared to the target product (the product related to the first design proposal) can be designated as "Comparison target: Product B." Alternatively, the configuration can be set up to specify "Target product: Design version 1 of Product A," and "Comparison target: Design version 2 of Product A."

[0047] The design item extraction unit 202 is a function that extracts design items (matters related to the design of the product) from each design document of the target product and the comparison target selected by the comparison target designation unit 201. The design items include design items and design values, that is, design items, design values ​​for the first design proposal, and design values ​​for the second design proposal. For example, if the design document contains a description such as "maximum speed shall be 100 km / h", the design item is "maximum speed" and the design value is "100 km / h". Similar to the first embodiment, this extraction of design items can utilize, for example, natural language processing technology, such as morphological analysis or BERT.

[0048] The design change identification unit 203 compares the design items of the target product and the comparison target extracted by the design item extraction unit 202, and extracts and identifies design changes.

[0049] The Design Change Reason Extraction Unit 204 is a function that extracts the reasons for design changes identified by the Design Change Identification Unit 203 from the design documents extracted by the Comparison Target Designation Unit 201. If the reason for the design change is explicitly stated in the design document, the explicitly stated reason for the design change is extracted. Examples of cases where the reason for the design change is explicitly stated include, for example, when there is wording in the design document that directly expresses the reason for the design change, such as "design reason" or "design change reason". If the reason for the design change is not explicitly stated in the design document, natural language processing technology is used to extract text containing keywords that suggest the reason for the design change before and after the description of the design item or design value in the design document. Examples of keywords that suggest the reason for the design change include "reason", "for", and "so". Such keywords can be configured to be defined in advance by the user as a dictionary. If no reason for the design change is extracted, the reason for the design change is set to "unknown". The extracted reason for the design change is registered in the Design Change Reason DB 21.

[0050] The MBSE model generation unit 205 is a function that generates an MBSE model based on the design items of the target product and the design items to be compared, extracted by the design item extraction unit 202, the design changes identified by the design change identification unit 203, and the design change reason extraction unit 204. The generated MBSE model is registered in the MBSE model DB 23 and output to the output device 14 according to the user's request.

[0051] In other respects, this embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.

[0052] In this embodiment as well, MBSE models can be easily created and referenced, and various effects can be expected, such as improved product design efficiency, reduction of design errors, and shortening of the design process. Furthermore, since there is no need to input the reasons for design changes, and MBSE models can be created and viewed simply by specifying the design documents for the first and second design proposals, it is more convenient than the first embodiment.

[0053] (Example of an MBSE model) Figure 10 shows an example of an MBSE model created in the first or second embodiment. The MBSE model illustrated in Figure 10 corresponds to a requirements diagram for the target product "Product A" compliant with SysML (System Modeling Language), and shows a comparison with the comparison target "Product B". In addition, the rationale for each design change is described in a memo.

[0054] (Other usage examples) This embodiment is an example of how to utilize the design change reason DB21 of the design support system in the first or second embodiment. In this example, the system searches the design change reason DB21 for the design change reason entered by the user, and displays the search results in a format such as an MBSE model.

[0055] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of this example. The search screen 111 displayed on the output device 14 by a predetermined operation has a field for entering the reason for the design change, and the user can enter any reason for the design change. When a search is performed, the processing device 12 compares the entered reason for the design change with the list of reasons for design change stored in the design change reason DB 21, searches for the closest reason for the design change, and outputs the search result display screen 112 to the output device 14.

[0056] The search results display screen 112 shows the most recent design change reason and the design items and design changes associated with that reason. Figure 11 shows an example of displaying search results using a block diagram, which is a type of MBSE model, but other display formats such as graphs, tables, or text may also be used.

[0057] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and design modifications are possible without departing from the technical concept. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0058] 11...Storage device, 12...Processing device, 13...Input device, 14...Output device, 21...Design change reason database, 22...Design document database

Claims

1. A design support system that assists in the design of a product, Equipped with a storage device and a processing device, The aforementioned processing apparatus is A design change reason database is recorded in the storage device, which registers data on the reasons for design changes from a first design proposal described in natural language to a second design proposal described in natural language, by modifying the first design proposal. With respect to the design items of the second design proposal that have been modified from the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the first design proposal related to the design items, the design values ​​of the second design proposal related to the design items, and the data for the reasons for the changes, the data that are not registered in the design change reason database are extracted from the data of the first design proposal and the second design proposal. As data relating to the design change from the first design to the second design, the design items, the design values ​​of the first design, the design values ​​of the second design, and the reasons for the change are registered in the design change reason database. In response to a request signal from the input device, the design change reason database is used to output data related to the design change from the first design to the second design, including the design items, the design values ​​of the first design, the design values ​​of the second design, and the reason for the change, to the output device. Design support system.

2. In the design support system of claim 1, The storage device stores a design document database for storing data for the first design proposal and the second design proposal. The processing device extracts the unregistered data from the design document database. Design support system.

3. In the design support system of claim 2, The aforementioned processing apparatus is The input screen for the reason for the change is output to the output device. The design items and reasons for the changes related to the design modifications of the second design proposal to the first design proposal, which were entered on the input screen, are obtained. Determine whether the design value data for the first and second design proposals relating to the aforementioned design items is registered in the design change reason database. A design support system that, if data for at least one of the design values ​​of the first design proposal and the second design proposal is not registered in the design change reason database, extracts the unregistered data from the design document database and registers it in the design change reason database in relation to the design change of the second design proposal to the first design proposal.

4. In the design support system of claim 3, The processing device is a design support system that extracts unregistered data from the design document database using natural language processing.

5. In the design support system of claim 2, The aforementioned processing apparatus is The first design proposal and the second design proposal stored in the design document database are compared, The following are extracted from the second design proposal as modified from the first design proposal: the design items of the second design proposal with respect to the design items, the design values ​​of the first design proposal with respect to the design items, and the reasons for the changes, and registered in the database of reasons for design changes. Design support system.

6. In the design support system of claim 5, The processing device is a design support system that extracts the design items, the design values ​​of the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the second design proposal, and the reasons for the changes from the design document database using natural language processing.

7. In the design support system of claim 1, The first and second design proposals are design support systems including requirements specifications and design documents.

8. In the design support system of claim 1, The processing device is a design support system that models the design items, the design values ​​of the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the second design proposal, and the data for the reasons for the changes using diagrams and outputs them to an output device.

9. A design support method for supporting the design of a product using a computer, According to the aforementioned computer, Regarding the first design proposal described in natural language and the second design proposal described in natural language by modifying the first design proposal, for the design items of the second design proposal that have been modified from the first design proposal, the design values ​​of the first design proposal related to the design items, the design values ​​of the second design proposal related to the design items, and the reasons for the changes are extracted from the data of the first design proposal and the second design proposal. As data related to the design change from the first design to the second design, a design change reason database is created in which the design items, the design values ​​of the first design, the design values ​​of the second design, and the reasons for the change are registered. Based on the database of design change reasons, the following data related to the design change from the first design to the second design are output to the output device: the design items, the design values ​​of the first design, the design values ​​of the second design, and the data of the change reasons. Design support method.

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