Development of a Feature-Based Rapid Design Environment

Computer-based realistic projects are required in all of our undergraduate design-related courses. Students are encouraged to design their individual projects (related to some real-life design and manufacturing problems) using state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD) tools. However, due to some inherent inflexibilities of current CAD tools, students cannot use them efficiently. It is now recognized that feature-based modeling holds the promise of developing requisite design tools for rapid and efficient design systems. This article discusses the feasibility of using a design-by-feature approach in the students' design projects. It reports the development of a library of macro, micro, and functional features for establishing a prototype, rapid design environment in SDRC's I-DEAS solid model-based design environment (using I-DEAS's programmability).