Integration of fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms and neural networks in collaborative parametric design

The solution to a design problem is extracted through the exploitation of the design knowledge in the context of a space of solution alternatives. The design process incorporates a series of decision making and knowledge management issues, which should be often addressed through collaboration among diverse stakeholders. The alternative solutions must usually be shaped under different formalisms and evaluated against commonly accepted objective criteria.The current paper presents an approach that integrates soft-computing techniques in order to facilitate the computer-aided collaboration among designers. CopDeSC (Collaborative parametric Design with Soft-Computing) is the name of the system developed in order to implement this approach whose key features are: (a) the collaborative structuring of design parameter hierarchies, (b) the modeling of the design objectives through fuzzy preferences stated by the designers on certain design parameters, (c) the deployment of genetic algorithms for locating the optimum solution and (d) the utilization of records of elite solutions that are submitted in a neuro-fuzzy approximation in order to produce a simplified problem formulation, suitable for addressing redesign tasks in significantly less computational time.The efficiency of CopDeSC is evaluated in an example case of the parametric design of oscillating conveyor that has been conducted by a group of designers.