Advances in Design Automation
(Sept. 1995), Volume 1, ASME, pages 471-476.
Abstract
The preliminary design process is characterized by
imprecision: the vagueness of an incomplete design description.
The Method of Imprecision
uses the mathematics of fuzzy sets to explicitly represent
and manipulate imprecise preliminary design information, enabling the
designer to explore
the space of alternative designs in the context of the designer and
customer's preferences among alternatives. This paper introduces new
methods to perform Method of Imprecision calculations for general
non-monotonic design evaluation functions that address the practical
necessity to minimize the number of function evaluations. These
methods utilize optimization and experiment design.