D-mapping: A knowledge-based method for requirements mining and concept design

To support automatic requirements mining and concept design for engineering designers, we proposed a knowledge-based method called D-mapping (Design Mapping). In our method, the design problem-solving processes are represented as mappings between functional and physical domains. For requirements mining, the earliest process of concept design, mappings take place inside the functional domain, and thus it is a self-mapping process. For physical architecture design, the later process of concept design, mappings take place between the functional and physical domains, and thus it is a cross-domain mapping process. We built a knowledge-based expert system to assist designers in those processes. The knowledge base of our expert system is based on amounts of Chinese patent texts and built using natural language processing technologies. The knowledge inference engine of our expert system is constructed based on various machine learning algorithms. The proposed method and the system can be proved to be novel and effective in case studies.