A data management model for collaborative design in a CAD environment

Abstract

This paper presents a data management model to support 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 ofversions, assemblies, andconfigurations. Versions maintain evolving descriptions of primitive entities within a single discipline.Assemblies integrate component instances to describe more complex entities, as well as designs within individual disciplines.Configurations provide a framework to represent an overall project design which is composed of designs from the participating disciplines. We apply a concept ofequivalent operations for developing operators that store, detect and manage changes among versions of a primitive design entity. The close coupling of the version, assembly, and configuration layers enables computed version changes to be recursively combined to characterize changes at the assembly and configuration levels. This applies for both project coordination throughasynchronous communication of changes among designers, and project monitoring through systematic tracking of evolving project descriptions. This paper also presents an implementation of the data management model in a CAD paradigm. We use a simple multidisciplinary facility design example to demonstrate the change management capabilities of the proposed model. This example has been tested on a prototype implementation in an AUTOCAD environment.