A reconstructive approach to automated design synthesis

Derivational Analogy is a technique used to adapt a previous design plan to solve a new problem. However, derivational analogy requires that this design plan be saved at the time of design. Design plans are generally not available unless design occurred with an automated design assistant, which could capture the details of the design process. Some design assistants do not have this ability, and many designs exist which were developed without an automated assistant. A method is proposed for recreating a design plan for a design, using design rationale information. Rationales are used to choose from possible design decisions, and to bias the design plan towards the new problem. This method enables the use of a design in derivational analogy even when the design plan is not available and demonstrates a significant potential for rationales in automated design. The authors discuss in detail the knowledge required and techniques applied for automated reconstruction of deviational histories.<>