Configuration Management in a CAD Paradigm

This paper presents a data management model for collaborative design. More specifically, it addresses the storing and managing of changes among designers in a multidisciplinary design project. We propose a three-layered model of versions, assemblies, and configurations. Versions maintain evolving descriptions of primitive entities within a single discipline, where a primitive entity can be described independently. Assemblies integrate component instances to describe more complex entities, as well as designs within single disciplines. Configurations provide a framework to describe an overall project design that is composed of designs from multiple disciplines. Furthermore, this paper presents an implementation of the data management model in a CAD paradigm, and describes operators to efficiently store and maintain changes at each level of this model. Finally, we use a simple example of a multidisciplinary facility design project to illustrate a prototype of the proposed model that has been implemented in an AUTOCAD environment. This example highlights practical implications of the model to support the management of changes in collaborative design projects.