The Other Mathematical Bridge

This paper contextualises, describes and discusses a student project which takes a particular exploratory approach to using mathematical surface definition as a language and vehicle for co-rational design co-authorship for architecture and engineering. The project has two authors, one from an architectural and one from an engineering educational background. It investigates the metaphorical and operational role of mathematics in the design process and outcomes.     

基于VRML技术建筑物漫游系统的研究

建筑物虚拟漫游技术在建筑设计、室内建筑装潢、房地产开发、游戏设计等方面具有非常广阔的应用前景。在研究虚拟漫游技术及相关三维图形理论的基础上开发了一套基于VRML的建筑物虚拟漫游系统。     

Web-based virtual operating of CNC milling machine tools

This paper attempts to propose a virtual operating system applied to operation training of manufacturing facility and manufacturing process simulation. The system is based on VRML and browser/server structure, so user only needs to install a free plug-in, and run the package normally via Microsoft Internet Explorer. Initially this paper studies the system framework, structure models and concept models. Then, a communication approach based on VRML, Java and HTML, which is key to realize the virtual operating of CNC machines, has been presented. The algorithm of material removed simulation based on VRML Z-map is also presented in this paper. It has the advantages such as a lower memory requirement, and a faster computation speed. Finally, in order to validate the feasibility of the proposed approach, the CNC milling machine has been taken as an illustrative example for the prototype development.     

A model-driven approach to the development of an architectural object model

This research paper discusses the core object model for architectural design, developed in the context of the IDEA+project. This project aims at developing an Integrated Design Environment for Architect designers, in which design tools and computational tests are gathered around and make use of a core object model. The object-oriented analysis method MERODE is used to develop this model. Due to the method's model-driven development, conceptual modelling is subdivided in an enterprise-modelling phase and a functionality-modelling phase. This structured approach has proven to be a firm base to the development of the envisaged model and enhances the model's integration in the design environment.     

Usefulness of VRML building models in a direction finding context

This paper describes an experiment which aims to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of a Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) building model compared with equivalent architectural plans, for direction finding purposes. The effectiveness and efficiency issues being primarily investigated were number of tasks completed overall and task completion times. The experiment involved a series of tasks where participants had to find a number of locations/objects in a building unknown to them at the outset of the experiment. Statistically significant results are presented for the benefit of the research community, law enforcement officers and fire fighters where it is clear that in this context, the VRML model led to better task completions than the equivalent architectural plans. Regarding the task completion times, no statistical significance was found. Given the current climate of security issues and terrorist threats, it is important that law enforcement officers have at their disposal the best information possible regarding the layout of a building, whilst keeping costs down. This also applies to fire fighters when rescuing victims. This experiment has shown that a VRML model leads to better task completions in direction finding.     

Knowledge based quality-driven architecture design and evaluation

Modelling and evaluating quality properties of software is of high importance, especially when our every day life depends on the quality of services produced by systems and devices embedded into our surroundings. This paper contributes to the body of research in quality and model driven software engineering. It does so by introducing; (1) a quality aware software architecting approach and (2) a supporting tool chain. The novel approach with supporting tools enables the systematic development of high quality software by merging benefits of knowledge modelling and management, and model driven architecture design enhanced with domain-specific quality attributes. The whole design flow of software engineering is semi-automatic; specifying quality requirements, transforming quality requirements to architecture design, representing quality properties in architectural models, predicting quality fulfilment from architectural models, and finally, measuring quality aspects from implemented source code. The semi-automatic design flow is exemplified by the ongoing development of a secure middleware for peer-to-peer embedded systems.     

Quality-driven architecture development using architectural tactics

This paper presents a quality-driven approach to embodying non-functional requirements (NFRs) into software architecture using architectural tactics. Architectural tactics are reusable architectural building blocks, providing general architectural solutions for common issues pertaining to quality attributes. In this approach, architectural tactics are represented as feature models, and their semantics is defined using the Role-Based Metamodeling Language (RBML) which is a UML-based pattern specification notation. Given a set of NFRs, architectural tactics are selected and composed, and the composed tactic is used to instantiate an initial architecture for the application. The proposed approach addresses both the structural and behavioral aspects of architecture. We describe the approach using tactics for performance, availability and security to develop an architecture for a stock trading system. We demonstrate tool support for instantiating a composed tactic to generate an initial architecture of the stock trading system.     

“Bottom, thou art translated”: the making of VRML Dream

Bringing virtual theater to the Web requires 3D graphics, efficient networking, and strong content. We discuss the VRML Dream Project, a real time Internet performance. In the late summer of 1997, the authors sat in a pub in Toronto, Canada, and began planning an ambitious project: to create a new entertainment medium. The idea was to mount a live performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and “broadcast” it over the Internet. The sets, props, and all the characters were to be modeled using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) 2.0. A group of actors would provide the voices, and puppeteers would control the characters. Both the voices and the motion data would be digitized, compressed, and sent out over the Internet in real time. Moreover, people would be able to access this broadcast with a 28.8-Kbps modem connection and a 150-MHz Pentium computer. Less than six months later, VRML Dream made Internet history (D. Coco, 1998). VRML Dream was the first live, streaming, VRML entertainment project with a running time of more than two or three minutes, and it proved that streaming both motion and voice data over standard Internet connections was possible. The article looks at the development of the project, its models and technology, and the main issues that influenced the final design. It also examines the technology needed to create live, streaming, real time 3D animation for the Internet as well as some of the challenges that lie ahead     

Semi-automated architectural abstraction specifications for supporting software evolution

In this paper we present an approach for supporting the semi-automated architectural abstraction of architectural models throughout the software life-cycle. It addresses the problem that the design and implementation of a software system often drift apart as software systems evolve, leading to architectural knowledge evaporation. Our approach provides concepts and tool support for the semi-automatic abstraction of architecture component and connector views from implemented systems and keeping the abstracted architecture models up-to-date during software evolution. In particular, we propose architecture abstraction concepts that are supported through a domain-specific language (DSL). Our main focus is on providing architectural abstraction specifications in the DSL that only need to be changed, if the architecture changes, but can tolerate non-architectural changes in the underlying source code. Once the software architect has defined an architectural abstraction in the DSL, we can automatically generate architectural component views from the source code using model-driven development (MDD) techniques and check whether architectural design constraints are fulfilled by these models. Our approach supports the automatic generation of traceability links between source code elements and architectural abstractions using MDD techniques to enable software architects to easily link between components and the source code elements that realize them. It enables software architects to compare different versions of the generated architectural component view with each other. We evaluate our research results by studying the evolution of architectural abstractions in different consecutive versions of five open source systems and by analyzing the performance of our approach in these cases.     

Coordination implications of software architecture in a global software development project

In this paper, we report on our experience of using design structure matrices (DSMs), derived from architecture models developed at early stages of the project, to reveal the coordination needs among globally distributed development teams. Our approach is to automatically transform the box-and-line style software architecture model into an augmented constraint network (ACN), from which a DSM can be automatically generated. After that, we represent the coordination structure among the team members as communication matrices (COMs). We then assess the consistency between the DSM and COMs. Analysis of data gathered during the Global Studio Project Version 3.0 revealed that the architectural DSM model, representing the software modular structure, is highly consistent with the COMs that represent the actual coordination structure, showing that an architectural DSM has the potential to help guide the task assignments in global software development projects.     

Characterizing navigation maps for web applications with the NMM approach

This paper presents the Navigation Maps Modeling approach (NMM), which provides platform independent models for characterizing navigation maps of web applications. The NMM approach is conceived to obtain a trade off between high and low-level design notations. As high-level design notations, NMM models permit architectural details that may hinder the overall understanding of the web application to be left out. As low-level design notations, NMM models can easily be transformed into detailed architectural designs, which are very valuable at coding and maintenance stages.     

SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORTATION: A MODEL-BASED APPROACH

Transportation and its environmental impacts are a major component of urban environmental management. At the same time, transportation and mobility are an important part of urban economics and the quality of life. To analyze urban transportation and its environmental impacts, a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach is needed. No single model can cover the range of spatial and temporal scales and processes involved. This leads to a multi-tiered approach and a cascade of models to describe alternative urban development and transportation scenarios and their multicriteria assessment and comparative analysis. This paper describes the methodology and application examples of Sustainable Urban Transportation (SUTRA) (http://www.ess.co.at/SUTRA/) a City of Tomorrow project under the European Union Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development Research Programme. The primary objective of SUTRA was to develop a consistent and comprehensive model-based approach and planning methodology for the analysis of urban transportation problems and to support design strategies for sustainable cities. This includes an integration of socioeconomic, environmental, and technological concepts including the development, integration, and demonstration of simulation tools to improve scenario design, assessment, and policy-level decision support. Combining an indicator-based approach with simulation models ranging from technoeconomic optimization to street canyon modeling, used for scenario analysis, socioeconomic, and environmental impact assessment, and a web-based public information component, the methodology ranges from awareness building and educational aspects for citizens and stakeholders participating in urban decision-making processes to detailed technical modeling and optimization results for the planning professional. The models employed in SUTRA describe urban development scenarios, their implications for the transportation system, and a range of economic and environmental impacts. Special emphasis was given to emissions and ambient air quality and, in consequence, population exposure and public health consequences, and accidents. The models used range in scale from street-canyon models with time horizons in hours to regional photochemical models considering seasonal patterns, transportation models describing the city and its environs, and technoeconomic models for long-term city-level or regional technological and energy analysis that estimate, inter alia, the market penetration of new transportation technologies over 20- to 30-years planning horizons. The links between the models, as well as the initial scenario assumptions and the overall evaluation framework, are formulated in terms of indicators. The city case studies of the SUTRA project (Buenos Aires, Gdansk, Genoa, Geneva, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, and Thessaloniki) differ widely in terms of culture, environmental conditions, size, economic structure, social composition, and demography. The modeling approach developed was tested against this range of cities of ensure general applicability and at the same time to provide data for a comparative analysis of the scenarios explored.     

Linking Model-Driven Development and Software Architecture: A Case Study

A basic premise of Model Driven Development (MDD) is to capture all important design information in a set of formal or semi-formal models which are then automatically kept consistent by tools. The concept however is still relatively immature and there is little by way of empirically validated guidelines. In this paper we report on the use of MDD on a significant real-world project over several years. Our research found the MDD approach to be deficient in terms of modelling architectural design rules. Furthermore, the current body of literature does not offer a satisfactory solution as to how architectural design rules should be modelled. As a result developers have to rely on time-consuming and error-prone manual practices to keep a system consistent with its architecture. To realise the full benefits of MDD it is important to find ways of formalizing architectural design rules which then allow automatic enforcement of the architecture on the system model. Without this, architectural enforcement will remain a bottleneck in large MDD projects.     

Towards user centred design (UCD) in architecture based on immersive virtual environments

This paper describes a generic concept of how to combine the experience of user centred design (UCD) in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) with the traditional approach of participatory design (PD) in an architectural design process. Even if some basic requirements of this generic method are not available yet, this paper will also describe an approach, which enables planners even now to involve end users by using virtual environments (VE) as immersive and spatial prototype. It will be described and illustrated by the way of example using the building project Centre of Virtual Engineering of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) in Stuttgart. It demonstrates that the transfer of the UCD approach to architectural planning combined with the provision of an adequate prototype can make a significant contribution towards an increase in quality and performance in building and construction projects.     

Toward a discipline of scenario‐based architectural engineering

Software architecture analysis is a cost‐effective means of controlling risk and maintaining system quality throughout the processes of software design, development and maintenance. This paper presents a sequence of steps that maps architectural quality goals into scenarios that measure the goals, mechanisms that realize the scenarios and analytic models that measure the results. This mapping ensures that design decisions and their rationale are documented in such a fashion that they can be systematically explored, varied, and potentially traded off against each other. As systems evolve, the analytic models can be used to assess the impact of architectural changes, relative to the system's changing quality goals. Although scenarios have been extensively used in software design to understand the ways in which a system meets its operational requirements, there has been little systematic use of scenarios to support analysis, particularly analysis of a software architecture's quality attributes: modifiability, portability, extensibility, security, availability, and so forth. In this paper we present a unified approach to using scenarios to support both the design, analysis and maintenance of software architectures, and examples from large‐scale software development projects where we have applied the approach. We also present a tool, called Brie, that aids in: scenario capture, mapping scenarios to software architectures, and the association of analytic models with particular portions of architectures. The approach that we have devised, and that Brie supports, is a foundation for a discipline of architectural engineering. Architectural engineering is an iterative method of design, analysis and maintenance where design decisions are motivated by scenarios, and are supported by documented analyses.     

基于Web的虚拟设计中VRML实时模型的可交互处理方法

提出一种基于Web的虚拟设计系统的基本结构,对其中在Web页面上展示产品的VRML模型提出了一种可实时交互的处理方法,包括对VRML模型的可交互操作进行预定义、预定义的节点信息和数据库之间的逻辑关系以及根据预定义信息对VRML模型文件进行自动处理的相关算法,最后在系统原型中具体实现了该方法。     

Web-based modular interface geometries with constraints in assembly models

The use of a modular technique in modeling for assembly can improve design efficiency and reduce the cost of product development. This paper presents an approach to an assembly model that was built using modular interface geometries. This paper proposes a novel, hybrid modular design strategy instead of the traditional, top-down design process. The curve-joint method is used as a simplified process for converting a 3D solid model to a skeleton model with interface geometries in modeling for assembly. This research builds assembly interface geometries with their constraints in the assembly model instead of using information about individual assembly parts for the product. These interface geometries are easy to share, and they deliver the design requirements properly. They also ensure that minimal efforts will be required in the design change process. By implementing this method, the constraints of the features in modular assembly parts can be transferred to interface geometries. Designers can easily add, replace, and delete design parts in the modular product. Module interaction for application programmed interface (MIAPI) is developed using HTML and JavaScript. The module structure of products can be verified via the web-based Internet in VRML format. These simplified assembly models that have fewer constraints allow design project managers to simulate the functioning of the product in the modularized design before the prototype is built. By using the assembly models, customers can easily choose various modules to assemble the exact products they are seeking via the Internet process. A desk lamp model is used as the example for implementation to validate the feasibility of this research.     

面向协同设计的VRML模型装配特征信息重建方法

VRML模型具有适用于网络化协同设计的许多优点,但在应用时,其离散的三角面片构型造成了大量设计信息的缺失,限制了协同设计操作的实现。由于机械设计中回转体约占70%,其特征参数（如回转中心,回转半径等）在设计过程中有重要意义。为此提出了基于向量空间的回转体特征参数提取方法,对装配特征信息进行重建,为基于VRML模型的协同浏览、尺寸信息查询、模型装配定位等操作提供重要参数。对算法复杂度进行了分析。实验表明在高精度要求下算法具有很高的效率。