INTRODUCTION 3(a) Conceptualization, to date, is considered still within the domain of a human designer. Product
design commences with the identification of its ‘need’ that may be based on consumer’s/market’s
demand. An old product may also need design revision in view of new scientific and technological
developments. An expert designer or a team goes through a creative and ingenious thought
process (brainstorming), mostly qualitative, to synthesize the form of a product. A computer has
not been rendered the capability, as yet, to capture non-numeric, qualitative ‘thought’ design,
though it can help a human designer by making available relevant information from its stored
database.
(b) Search, learning and intelligenceis inherent more in a human designer who can be made aware
of the new technological developments useful to synthesize new products. A computer, at this
time, has little learning and ‘qualitative thinking’ capability and is not intelligent enough to
synthesize a new form on its own. However, it can passively assist a designer by making
available a large set of possibilities (stored previously) from a variety of disciplines, and narrow
down the search domain for the designer.
(c) Information storage and retrievalcan be performed very efficiently by a computer that has an
excellent capability to store and handle data. Human memory can fade or fail to avail appropriate
information fast enough, and at the right time from diverse sources. Further, a computer can
automatically create a product database in final stages of the design.
(d) Analytical powerin a computer is remarkable in that it can perform, say, the finite element
analysis of a complex mechanical part or retrieve the input/output characteristics of a designed
system very efficiently, provided mathematical models are embedded. Humans usually instruct
the computers, via codes or software, the requisite mathematical models employed in geometric
modeling (modeling of curves, surfaces and solids) and analysis(finite element method and
optimization). Geometric modeling manifests the form of a product that a designer has in mind
(qualitatively) while analysis works towards the systematic improvement of that form.
(e) Design iteration and improvement can be performed by a computer very efficiently once the
designer has offloaded his/her conception of a product via geometric modeling. Finite element
analysis (or other performance evaluation routine) and optimization can be performed simultaneously
with the aim to modify the dimensions/shape of a product to meet the pre-specified design goals.
(f) Prototyping of the optimized design can be accomplished using the tools now available for Rapid
Manufacturing. The geometric information of the final product can be passed on to a manufacturing
set up that would analogically print a three dimensional product.
Computers help in manifesting the qualitative conception of a design form a human has of a product.
Further, they prove useful in iterative improvement of the design, and its eventual realization. Computers
are integrated with humans in design and manufacture, and provide the scope for automation (or least
human interaction) wherever needed (mainly in analysis and optimization). Computer Aided Process
Planning (CAPP), scheduling (CAS), tool design (CATD), material requirement planning (MRP),
tool path generation for CNC machining, flexible manufacturing system (FMS), robotic systems for
assembly and manufacture, quality inspection, and many other manufacturing activities also require
computers.
1.3 Computer Graphics
Computer Graphics, which is a discipline within Computer Science and Engineering, provides an
important mode of interaction between a designer and computer. Sutherland developed an early form
of a computer graphic system in 1963. Rogers and Adams explain computer graphics as the use