Description And Application Of Domain Knowledge In Automotive Styling

Product form design, which is based on mass production and various human requirements after material abundance, is a human-centered innovative activity involving product form and relevant aesthetics, human emotion and experience etc. As a typical modern manufacturing, automobile industry is a central representation of advanced manufacture technology and design level in related disciplines. The common character of modern design is focus on knowledge acquirement and application, which is described as a knowledge converging process. The complexity and systemization of design thinking and problem solving decide that knowledge in product form design domain lack clear definition and connotation contrasted with other design and engineering domain. Automotive styling is especially typical. In automotive styling, it is a"high tech– high emotion"design domain characterized as various aesthetics requirements, complex forming surfaces, multi- discipline knowledge crossover, various concepts choice and iterative development. This present a challenge to knowledge research and share in product form design.Supported by the National Basic Research Program (973 Program) and the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program), aiming at automotive styling, this paper research on product form knowledge and knowledge transform in design process, proposes a knowledge-oriented product form domain conceptual model, constructs a detailed knowledge processing framework in product form design, and builds up a series of special technologies of knowledge acquirement, presentation and application which adapt to automotive styling domain.This research's methodology includes basic theory research, theory model construction, application technologies research and application system implementation. These four phases, as"theory investigation– theory modeling– technologies research– technologies application", compose a whole scientific research processing.In basic theory research phase, this paper bases on design science, artificial intelligence, knowledge engineering, computer-aided design and cognitive science, analyzes product form knowledge and knowledge transform, propose the definition of product form domain conceptual model.In theory model construction phase, this paper bases on characters of image cognition and problem solving in automotive styling, employ methods in experimental psychology, focus on concept design phase, research on styling problem solving process, cognitive evaluation and outside knowledge aid. Based on this, this paper abstract content of automotive styling domain conceptual model, and constructs a knowledge processing framework combined with Case Based Reasoning.In application technologies research phase, this paper bases on the knowledge processing framework, research on knowledge acquirement, presentation and application of automotive styling. In knowledge acquirement, this paper employs related design research methods such as semantic differentia, focuses on existed automotive styling cases, and acquires different level's knowledge elements. In knowledge presentation, this paper bases on features of automotive styling cases and potential knowledge application, research on Metadata presentation which is used to index cases retrieving. In knowledge application, this paper bases on the transform process between qualitative and quantitative knowledge in automotive styling problem solving, propose a qualitative-quantitative transform mechanism of case based automotive styling knowledge and detailed technologies.In application system implementation phase, this paper bases on application technologies research, includes functional orientation, system design and implementation, and finally build up a case based automotive styling system prototype– CBAS. This process is a evaluation and validation of theory model.Theory and application experience both prove that automotive styling knowledge description and application based on product form domain research can aid designing activities effectively, solve relevant difficulties of product form design and make progress in design theory research and practices.