A methodology for design coordination in a distributed computing environment

Coates, G. and Duffy, A.H.B. and Whitfield, R.I. and Hills, W. (1999) A methodology for design coordination in a distributed computing environment. In: Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED'99), 1999-08-24 - 1999-08-26.

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Abstract

At the conceptual stage of the design process it is increasingly common that analysis tools are involved in the evaluation of a large number of alternative designs. Designers use such analysis tools to assist with large scale concept evaluations and the prediction of good initial designs. Consequently there exists a need to coordinate these analysis tools to enable the early stage of design to be performed in a timely and efficient manner. This paper describes a generic methodology that allows the management and coordination of design analysis tools. A Computer Aided Design tool, namely the Design Coordination System (DCS), has been developed to assist the designer in performing computational analysis in a distributed computing environment. Within the DCS, a collection of design agents act as members of a multi-functional team operating in a cooperative and coordinated manner in order to satisfy the objective of efficiently performing the design analysis.