An approach to product solution generation and evaluation based on the similarity theory and Ant Colony Optimisation

An approach to product solution generation is proposed to analyse the conceptual design activities in this paper. In this approach, the sub-functions are defined with the functional basis, and the chief sub-function chain is generated from the constructed functional model. A design repository is developed to store the relationships of sub-functions and artificial components. The similarity theory is used to analyse the compatibility of two adjacent components in a design solution, and the compatibility is described by the generalised distance (GD). The evaluation criteria and weightings of sub-functions are provided and used to select components for a design solution. Under the premise of regarding GD as the path and taking the evaluation score of a component as the pheromone, the Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) is used to automatically identify the appropriate design solutions. The requirements of sub-functions and the compatibility of two adjacent components are considered in a design solution by the proposed approach. Finally, a case of the 3-Axis Servo Transfer System is introduced to illustrate the application of the proposed approach.