Incremental modelling of ambiguous geometric ideas (I-MAGI): representation and maintenance of vague geometry

During conceptual design, a designer may wish to describe a shape vaguely, either because it is desired that the shape remains flexible or the shape h as not yet been defined precisely. Maintaining the vagueness of an early id ea until it is sufficiently developed is often of vital importance. However , most existing systems, mainly due to limitations in their modelling capab ilities, attempt to interpret and thereby remove the vagueness at the earli est opportunity. This may lead to the loss of considerable information in o riginal concepts or design fixation too early in the design stage. A new ap proach is needed to represent and maintain vague geometric information and such an approach is presented in this paper. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.