GENERATING MULTIPLE NEW DESIGNS FROM A SKETCH

We describe a program called SKETCHIT that transforms a single sketch of a mechanical device into multiple families of new designs. It repre sents each of these families with a ''BEP-Model'', a parametric model augmented with constraints that ensure the device produces the desired behavior. The program is based on qualitative configuration space (qc -space), a novel representation that captures mechanical behavior whil e abstracting away its implementation. The program employs a paradigm of abstraction and resynthesis: it abstracts the initial sketch into q c-space, then uses a library of primitive mechanical interactions to m ap from qc-space to new implementations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.