Multiagent systems have been considered as a potential solution for developing adaptive systems. In this research, a cellular self-organizing (CSO) approach is proposed for developing such multiagent adaptive systems. The design of CSO systems however is difficult because the global effect emerges from local actions and interactions that are often hard to specify and control. In order to achieve high-level flexible and robustness of CSO systems and retain the capability of specifying desired global effects, we propose a field-based regulative control mechanism, called field-based behavior regulation (FBR). FBR is a real-time, dynamical, distributed mechanism that regulates the emergence process for CSO systems to self-organize and self-reconfigure in complex operation environments. FBR characterizes the task environment in terms of “fields” and extends the system flexibility and robustness without imposing global control over local cells or agents. This paper describes the model of CSO systems and FBR, and demonstrates their effectiveness through simulation-based case studies.

The term design fixation is often used interchangeably to refer to situations where designers limit their creative output because of an overreliance on features of preexisting designs, or more generally, an overreliance on a specific body of knowledge directly associated with a problem. In this paper, we argue that interdisciplinary interest in design fixation has led to increasingly broad definitions of the phenomenon that may be undermining empirical research efforts, educational efforts to minimize fixation, and the acquisition and dissemination of transdisciplinary knowledge about fixation effects. To address these issues, we recommend that researchers consider categorizing fixation phenomena into one of three classifications: unconscious adherence to the influence of prior designs, conscious blocks to change, and intentional resistance to new ideas. Next, we distinguish between concept-based design fixation, fixation to a specific class of known design concepts, and knowledge-based design fixation, fixation to a problem-specific knowledge base. With these distinctions in place, we propose a system of orders of design fixation, recommend methods for reducing fixation in inventive design, and recommend areas that are in need of further research within the field of design science.

This paper explores the role of a designer's sense of engagement in early stage design. In the field of virtual reality, presence and immersion are standard measures of an individual's sense of engagement and involvement in an activity. High levels of presence might indicate that the designer is highly focused on the work. The central research question is the following: do designers who are more engaged in design activity, as measured by presence and immersive tendency questionnaires, produce better designs? An experiment was conducted to assess presence and immersive tendencies within the context of a hands-on, open-ended design-and-build activity. The results indicated that the designers' sense of immersion and presence ranged widely as well as their sense of frustration and calmness while performing the design activity. It was found that higher levels of presence correlated with either high design performance or low design performance. Lower levels of presence correlated with average design performance. No correlations were found between immersive tendency and design performance. This study suggests that some level of presence can be linked with better design, and it implies that level of presence might serve as an indicator of performance and learning in similar design-and-build activities.

This article focuses on a shape grammar, the rabo-de-bacalhau housing style, that was developed to enable the adaptation of existing houses to new requirements and most particular on the process of inference of the grammar. In the article we describe the process undertaken to develop the grammar and what the achievements of the transformation grammar are regarding the possibilities of a mass customization of a dwelling's rehabilitation work. The goal of this article is to describe and discuss how the designer's knowledge was encoded into shape rules. The process used to extract the architect's knowledge and to incorporate it into the transformation grammar enable us to abstract the designer's actions and to define a sequence of actions that can define a possible strategy of design. The proposed design methodology generates dwelling layouts that are legal because they follow the grammar language and adequate because they meet the a priori user and design requirements.

Massive open online courses, online tutoring systems, and other computer homework systems are rapidly changing engineering education by providing increased student feedback and capitalizing upon online systems' scalability. While online homework systems provide great benefits, a growing concern among engineering educators is that students are losing both the critical art of sketching and the ability to take a real system and reduce it to an accurate but simplified free-body diagram (FBD). For example, some online systems allow the drag and drop of forces onto FBDs, but they do not allow the user to sketch the FBDs, which is a vital part of the learning process. In this paper, we discuss Mechanix, a sketch recognition tool that provides an efficient means for engineering students to learn how to draw truss FBDs and solve truss problems. The system allows students to sketch FBDs into a tablet computer or by using a mouse and a standard computer monitor. Using artificial intelligence, Mechanix can determine not only the component shapes and features of the diagram but also the relationships between those shapes and features. Because Mechanix is domain specific, it can use those relationships to determine not only whether a student's work is correct but also why it is incorrect. Mechanix is then able to provide immediate, constructive feedback to students without providing final answers. Within this manuscript, we document the inner workings of Mechanix, including the artificial intelligence behind the scenes, and present studies of the effects on student learning. The evaluations have shown that Mechanix is as effective as paper-and-pencil-based homework for teaching method of joints truss analysis; focus groups with students who used the program have revealed that they believe Mechanix enhances their learning and that they are highly engaged while using it.

The aim of this work is to explore the relationship between products that mechanically transform and individual environmentally conscious behavior (ECB). Our qualitative study led to observations on how each of the three transformation principles, expand/collapse, expose/cover, and fuse/divide, specifically supports ECBs. As expected, expand/collapse enables better portability of products. Increased portability of reusable products (e.g., travel mugs and shopping bags) reduces reliance on their disposable counterparts. A less expected observation is that increased portability also increases the spontaneity by which ECBs could be carried out. While there are fewer ECB supporting products that incorporate the expose/cover principle, we believe that it enables one to include, yet hide potentially unaesthetic, features that support ECB in often-used or worn items. Finally, we found fuse/divide to enable portability beyond what is possible with expand/collapse alone. Fuse/divide may also make possible other product transport and reuse strategies. We conclude that mechanically transformable products support and enable ECBs, especially when existing infrastructure presents obstacles. Such products may increase the rate of participation in ECB, which then justifies improvements to the shortfalls in infrastructure for which they compensate.