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Fig. 4. The flowchart of searching support part on function driven.<br />

from its repositories. To this purpose, a method of<br />

knowledge search <strong>based</strong> on a function driven concept and<br />

an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique is proposed<br />

in this paper.<br />

5.1. Function driven<br />

Designing and developing a <strong>product</strong> is system engineering;<br />

it refers to multi-discipline knowledge. Even <strong>product</strong>s<br />

with a single function or certain phases within the<br />

development of a <strong>product</strong> require the support of various<br />

kinds of knowledge. A <strong>design</strong>er could not master all of the<br />

necessary knowledge, or at least could not reach an expert’s<br />

level in all those disciplines. Certainly, he could not employ<br />

a knowledge that he does not completely know. This means<br />

that much knowledge may be familiar to, but not mastered<br />

by the <strong>design</strong>er though he may know the function and<br />

constraints of this knowledge. Based on this viewpoint,<br />

the IPDP proposes a method of knowledge search. That is,<br />

the knowledge is searched according to the functions of the<br />

knowledge, here called Function Driven Knowledge Search<br />

(FDKS). With this method, when a <strong>design</strong>er needs a piece of<br />

knowledge he determines the function of the knowledge and<br />

the constraints that the knowledge requires. Then the IPDP<br />

searches <strong>for</strong> the knowledge in the repositories and retrieves<br />

it, matching the required functions and constraints. For<br />

example, suppose that a <strong>design</strong>er needs a rotative support<br />

part when he develops a <strong>product</strong>, and the part does not exist<br />

inthedatabaseofhis<strong>design</strong><strong>plat<strong>for</strong>m</strong>.Hewantstogain<br />

it from the outside repositories. Obviously, he does not<br />

know the details of the part. But he knows the functions<br />

of the part and the constraints that the part should meet.<br />

Since the IPDP provides the (FDKS) method, the<br />

<strong>design</strong>er only needs to provide the function and<br />

constraints that should be met. The IPDP then returns<br />

to the <strong>design</strong>er the resulting part that coincides with the<br />

user’s requirements. By this means, the <strong>design</strong>er can<br />

gain the knowledge that meets his <strong>design</strong> requirements<br />

even if he is not very familiar with it. The flowchart of<br />

S. Zhou et al. / Knowledge-Based Systems 16 (2003) 7–15 11<br />

searching the support part <strong>based</strong> on function driven<br />

knowledge is shown in Fig. 4.<br />

5.2. Back propagation neural networks<br />

Knowledge search driven by function requires the user to<br />

determine the function and constraints that the knowledge<br />

should meet. In many situations, a <strong>product</strong> (knowledge) has<br />

several functions, and the same function can be achieved<br />

with various <strong>product</strong>s (knowledge). Moreover, the repositories<br />

have a great deal of knowledge and the mapping<br />

relationships between function and knowledge are implicit<br />

and nonlinear. In these situations, it is very difficult to<br />

construct all mapping relationships through general mapping<br />

(e.g. rule reasoning). Then how does the IPDP<br />

efficiently implement the mapping between knowledge<br />

and the function of knowledge? To solve this problem, an<br />

ANN method is applied to construct the mapping relationship<br />

between functions and knowledge in the IPDP system.<br />

In 1986, D.E. Rumelhart, J.L. Meclelland of MIT<br />

University put <strong>for</strong>ward a Back Propagation (BP) algorithm<br />

of multi-layers feed <strong>for</strong>ward ANN. The BP algorithm solved<br />

the modeling problem <strong>for</strong> layer-networks, and realized the<br />

ANN used in engineering applications. Until the present the<br />

synapses of ANN have almost reached all fields of<br />

engineering application, such as machine vision, class of<br />

decision [12], intelligent control and fault diagnosis [13].<br />

Since the feed <strong>for</strong>ward neural networks with two layers<br />

(containing a hidden layer) were applied in class and curve<br />

approximate fitting, a two-layer BP neural network with a<br />

momentum coefficient is adopted here to construct the<br />

mapping relationships between functions of knowledge and<br />

knowledge itself. The mathematical model of BP neural<br />

networks is shown as follows.<br />

Training samples are {ðXp; DpÞlp ¼ 1; 2; …; N}: Here, Xp<br />

is the Pth input value of training samples. Xp ¼<br />

ðx p p<br />

1 ; x2 ; …x p a Þ: Dp is the Pth ideal output value of training<br />

samples, Dp ¼ðd p p p<br />

1 ; d2 ; …dL Þ: Yp is the Pth actual output<br />

value, Yp ¼ðy p p p<br />

1 ; y2 ; …yL Þ:<br />

To the Pth group of training samples with N groups, the<br />

input and output models of the hidden layer are stated as<br />

Eq. (1). The input and output model of the output layer are<br />

stated as Eq. (2).<br />

net p<br />

XM<br />

j ¼ Wijx i¼0<br />

p<br />

i<br />

o p<br />

8<br />

><<br />

ð1Þ<br />

>:<br />

p<br />

j ¼ f netj 8<br />

><<br />

>:<br />

net p<br />

k<br />

y p<br />

k<br />

¼ XS<br />

j¼0<br />

¼ f net p<br />

k<br />

W jko p<br />

j<br />

Select Sigmoid function f ðuÞ ¼1=½1 þ expð2uÞŠ as the<br />

active function of the BP neural networks. The valve values<br />

ð2Þ

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