Design and Implementation of a Prototype ‘Intelligent’ CAD System

System requirements and system design for integrating a production rule program and a computer aided design system are presented. An implementation using a commercially available graphics modeling system is described. A “suggestive mode” interface is programmed as an example with application to design for automated assembly. Initial use of the implementation indicates that encoding production rules is more difficult than with conventional text-only knowledge-based system, but that this system is a more effective way to use artificial intelligence techniques in design. The system is intended for use with knowledge domains that are not well represented by usual analytical means.