A Plan‐Based Framework for Design: Implementation
Divine T. Ndumu, Bassam A. Izzuddin, David Lloyd Smith · Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering · 1995
Abstract: The development of automated design assistants requires a generic framework in which design knowledge can be directly represented and utilized. The framework should be transparent, allowing a user to view and query the system's reasoning and to control its solution processes. Current knowledge-based systems techniques have failed to provide such a framework because their inference procedures do not directly support design transformations. This paper describes the design and implementation of a generic framework for design based on planning. Issues addressed include the representation and use of strategic control knowledge, object-level design knowledge, normative knowledge, and general knowledge within a planning framework. Examples of the functioning of the framework in the design of beams to satisfy lateral torsional buckling requirements are presented. The efficiency and limitations of the implementation are discussed and possible extensions to the system described.