Configuration in mechanical engineering

An expert system for the configuration of special machines is described. The static domain knowledge is represented in the system by objects that are hierarchically organized in a part-of hierarchy that forms a model of the machine, and in several is-a hierarchies for the different types of machines and of its parts. The configuration knowledge consists of functions and relations between parameters representing mechanical laws and of heuristic rules. Both are represented as constraints that are attached to the objects in the model. The configuration process is a stepwise refinement of the model until all parameter values are determined. It is performed by direct evaluation of the constraints and is supported by a dependency controller. The search is guided by control strategies, the most important one is preferring standard solutions: The configuration system includes a simple diagnosis component and a special component for the feedback from diagnosis to configuration.