Shape exploration in design : formalising and supporting a transformational process

The process of sketching can support the sort of transformational thinking that is seen as essential for the interpretation and reinterpretation of ideas in innovative design. Such transformational thinking, however, is not yet well supported by computer-aided design systems. In this paper, outcomes of experimental investigations into the mechanics of sketching are described, in particular those employed by practising architects and industrial designers as they responded to a series of conceptual design tasks,. Analyses of the experimental data suggest that the interactions of designers with their sketches can be formalised according to a finite number of generalised shape rules. A set of shape rules, formalising the reinterpretation and transformations of shapes, e.g. through deformation or restructuring, are presented. These rules are suggestive of the manipulations that need to be afforded in computational tools intended to support designers in design exploration. Accordingly, the results of the experimental investigations informed the development of a prototype shape synthesis system, and a discussion is presented in which the future requirements of such systems are explored

BIM semantic-enrichment for built heritage representation

In the built heritage context, BIM has shown difficulties in representing and managing the large and complex knowledge related to non-geometrical aspects of the heritage. Within this scope, this paper focuses on a domain-specific semantic-enrichment of BIM methodology, aimed at fulfilling semantic representation requirements of built heritage through Semantic Web technologies. To develop this semantic-enriched BIM approach, this research relies on the integration of a BIM environment with a knowledge base created through information ontologies. The result is knowledge base system - and a prototypal platform - that enhances semantic representation capabilities of BIM application to architectural heritage processes. It solves the issue of knowledge formalization in cultural heritage informative models, favouring a deeper comprehension and interpretation of all the building aspects. Its open structure allows future research to customize, scale and adapt the knowledge base different typologies of artefacts and heritage activities

A constraint manager to support virtual maintainability

Virtual prototyping tools have already captivated the industry's interest as viable design tool. One of the key challenges for the research community is to extend the capabilities of Virtual Reality technology beyond its current scope of ergonomics and design reviews. The research presented in this paper is part of a larger research programme that aims to perform maintainability assessment on virtual prototypes. This paper discusses the design and implementation of a geometric constraint manager that has been designed to support physical realism and interactive assembly and disassembly tasks within virtual environments. The key techniques employed by the constraint manager are direct interaction, automatic constraint recognition, constraint satisfaction and constrained motion. Various optimization techniques have been implemented to achieve real-time interaction with large industrial models

Fall Detection Analysis Using a Real Fall Dataset

International Conference on Soft Computing Models in Industrial and Environmental Applications (13th. 2018. San Sebastián

Geometric continuous patch complexes

A theory of geometric continuity of arbitrary order is presented. Conditions of geometric continuity at a vertex where a number of patches meet are investigated. Geometric continuous patch complexes are introduced as the appropriate setting for the representation of surfaces in CAGD. The theory is applied to the modelling of closed surfaces and the fitting of triangular patches into a geometric continuous patch complex