Design Support System for Plant Specification Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Younger designers with less experience face difficulties in determining noteworthy information from a large number of search results when searching for similar design cases in power generation plant design, as existing systems struggle to accurately identify and extract relevant information from existing plant records.
Innovation Solution
A design support system that acquires and processes design specifications for new plants, identifies matching elements, and extracts relevant descriptions from existing plant records, using a combination of element definition information, acquisition, identification, selection, and extraction units to provide targeted information for designers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a large number of review meeting records and unsuitable case examples are stored in the database, then the comprehensiveness of design reference information is improved, but the difficulty for designers to determine noteworthy information from search results increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual information filtering and analysis with automated computer-based processing. The system automatically extracts key information from stored records, calculates similarity scores between design targets and existing cases, and ranks results without requiring designers to manually examine large numbers of documents. This substitution of mechanical human analysis with automated computational processing resolves the contradiction by maintaining comprehensive database storage while eliminating the difficulty of information detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer between the database and the designer. This intermediary automatically retrieves stored records, extracts relevant features, calculates similarity metrics, and presents filtered and ranked results. The intermediary system acts as a mediator that transforms raw comprehensive data into actionable insights, resolving the contradiction by maintaining data comprehensiveness while simplifying information detection for designers.
2Quantity of substance
If younger designers with less experience search for design cases using keyword-based methods, then the breadth of information retrieval is improved, but the precision of identifying relevant design specifications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces keyword-based manual searching with automated computer-based similarity calculation. The system extracts design specifications from both the target and existing plant data, calculates comprehensive similarity scores across multiple parameters, and automatically ranks results. This substitution maintains the breadth of information retrieval by accessing the entire database while dramatically improving precision through systematic automated comparison rather than experience-dependent keyword selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the search approach from keyword matching to multi-parameter similarity calculation. Instead of relying on simple text keyword searches, the system extracts and compares multiple design specification parameters (plant type, capacity, technology, operational conditions) and calculates overall similarity scores. This parameter-based approach maintains comprehensive retrieval while significantly improving identification precision by considering multiple relevant dimensions simultaneously.
3Measurement precision
If design similarity is determined using installation positions of equipment or piping in 3D model data, then the accuracy of identifying comparable cases is improved, but the complexity of the determination process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the similarity determination process into distinct automated computational steps: extracting design specifications from 3D model data, normalizing the extracted data, calculating similarity scores for each parameter category, and aggregating results. By dividing the complex determination process into manageable automated segments, the system achieves high accuracy in identifying comparable cases while reducing overall process complexity through systematic decomposition and automation of each step.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual analysis of complex 3D model data with automated computer-based processing. The system automatically extracts installation positions, equipment configurations, and spatial relationships from 3D models, calculates similarity metrics, and generates comparison results without requiring manual intervention. This substitution maintains high accuracy in identifying comparable cases while dramatically reducing the complexity burden on designers by automating the entire determination process.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an embodiment, a design support system supports determination of a first design specification of a plant, the system including a memory and a hardware processor. The memory stores therein second design specifications of existing plants in association with first information related to a document(s) concerned with an existing plant. The hardware processor acquires a required specification which includes a part of elements of the first design specification and which indicates value of each element to be satisfied; identifies, based on second information in which an element(s) is/are associated with each condition, an element associated with a condition that matches the required specification; identifies a second design specification corresponding to the required specification based on the element identified; selects an element(s); and extracts, from the first information associated with the second design specification identified, a description related to the element selected.