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This paper presents results of transdisciplinary research on the development of a bioinspired computational framework for engineering design. This framework is intended to support design by addressing three critical design objectives, including novelty, optimality, and robustness. It provides several computational models and methods, which are inspired by fundamental processes occurring in nature, and discusses their potential for enhancing design. They include models and methods for evolutionary, developmental, and coevolutionary design. Their use is illustrated with examples from the area of steel structural design ranging from a simple cantilever beam design problem to a much more complex problem of designing wind bracings in tall buildings. The paper also shows how several methods and models can be integrated and form a coherent bioinspired computational framework for engineering design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of computer-aided drafting (CAD) systems within the engineering domain has provided significant advances in the capability to model design solutions. However, the focus of these systems on detailed design solutions has resulted in a corresponding lack of automated design assistants for the generation of conceptual design solutions, the primary reason being the incompatibility between the emphasis on geometric coordinates in detailed design and the emphasis on qualitative definitions in conceptual design. This paper presents one approach to bridging this representation gap, through the use of a qualitative geometric reasoner for integrated design (GRID). The paper presents a prototype GRID system that uses artificial intelligence representation and reasoning techniques to interpret CAD models and respond to qualitative geometric queries from automated design assistants within an integrated design environment. The expansion of qualitative geometric reasoning beyond spatial reasoning to include temporal and logical reasoning is introduced as a primary focus of the GRID system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]