Generation of Conceptual Design for Structural Shapes and Functional Elements of Machine Systems Having no Preconceptions Concerning the Design

摘要

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for generating conceptual designs of structural shapes and functional elements of machine systems from initial conditions having no preconceived information. Firstly, a feasible design region initially containing nothing is defined. The whole feasible region which is uniformly filled up with finite elements having an extremely low rigidity is here assumed to be a region containing nothing. Then, a seed element grows into a whole structural system in the feasible design region by conducting both the creation of external shapes and the growth of the inner structures. Next, the design method is advanced so that a functional element of a rotational joint is also generated with the structural shapes simultaneously. Finally, the proposed conceptual design method is applied to design of industrial robots.