MIND: A Design Machine — Conceptual Framework

We define ICAD (Intelligent Computer Aided Design) as the instantiation of the interactive relation between designer and a variable, category-based, extendible machine, based on a parallel configuration of Intelligent Processors. The paper provides an outline of a computational design theory, followed by a set of observations and recommendations as specifications for an ICAD system. Issues of methodology and configuration conclude the conceptual analysis. In place of ‘expert systems for design,’ implemented as partial solutions to the design problem within limited domains, we propose ‘expert systems of design,’ meta-expert systems containing knowledge of the design process. Expert systems of design can be built using current technology, and can be used to organize and guide the development of conventional, domain-specific, expert systems modules. The design team is the metaphor around which we developed the conceptual model of a multifunctional intelligent design (MIND) machine.