A DESIGN METHOD FOR PRODUCT FAMILY CONFIGURATION WITH SPATIAL LAYOUT REQUIREMENTS A Thesis Presented to The Academic Faculty By John-Travis Smith Hansen In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology December 2017 Copyright c John-Travis Smith Hansen 2017 A DESIGN METHOD FOR PRODUCT FAMILY CONFIGURATION WITH SPATIAL LAYOUT REQUIREMENTS Approved by: Dr. David Rosen, Advisor School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Roger Jiao School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Katherine Fu School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Date Approved: December 4, 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my advisor, Dr. David Rosen, for his patience, guidance , and understanding throughout this endeavor. He guided me with insightful comments and advice, throughout my research. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Roger Jiao and Dr. Katherine Fu for their time, expertise, and feedback in the completion of my Masters thesis. I would would also like to thank the other members of my lab for making the office a great learning and research environment. Specifically, I would like to thank Chad Hume, Narumi Watanabe, Sang-in Park, Paula Xian, Peter Zhao, and Mahmoud Dinar. Without their support and insight it would have been very difficult to finish my work. I would finally like to thank my friends and family for all of the support they have given me. I am extremely grateful to both my mother and father for the love, support, and encouragement they have given me throughout my work. I thank my brother for his support and encouragement. I would like to thank my roommates Kyle and Clayton, who helped me navigate grad school. Finally I would like to thank my friends who have supported me, including Troy, Kelsey, Cecily, and many more. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................... iii LIST OF TABLES ................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................... xi LIST OF ALGORITHMS ................................ xii NOMENCLATURE ................................... xiii SUMMARY ....................................... xvi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................... 1 1.1 Configuration Design Problems . 2 1.2 Research Questions and Hypothesis . 4 1.3 Organization of This Thesis . 5 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review ............................ 6 2.1 Product Family Matters . 6 2.1.1 Product Variety: Building A Full House . 7 2.1.2 Research in Product Family Reasoning . 7 2.2 Research in Layout and Packing . 8 2.2.1 Overview . 9 2.2.2 Existing Methods . 10 2.2.2.1 Heuristic Packing Methods . 10 2.2.2.2 Traditional Optimization Methods . 11 2.2.2.3 Stochastic Methods . 12 2.2.3 Overview Geometric Representation . 14 2.3 Summary . 15 CHAPTER 3: Designer Preference Configuration-Layout Method .......... 16 3.1 Beginnings of a Product Family . 16 3.2 Formulating the Configuration-Layout Problem . 19 3.2.1 Combinatorial Configuration . 19 3.2.2 Spatial Layout . 20 3.2.3 Combined Problem Formulation . 20 3.3 The Designer Preference Configuration Design Layout Method . 22 3.3.1 Designer Preference Configuration-Design Space . 23 3.3.1.1 The Unconstrained Design Space . 23 3.3.1.2 The Constrained Design Space . 29 iv 3.3.2 Transition From Configuration Design Space to Layout Space . 42 3.3.3 Designer Preference Component Layout . 46 3.4 Summary . 57 CHAPTER 4: Configuration-Layout Methods Implementation ............ 60 4.1 Data Structures . 61 4.1.1 Components and Configurations . 61 4.1.2 Fascias . 64 4.1.3 Constrained Configuration . 66 4.1.4 Defined Products . 68 4.1.5 Component Layout . 69 4.1.6 Summary . 72 4.2 Code Overview . 72 4.2.1 Combinatoric Generation Process . 72 4.2.1.1 Organize Constraints . 74 4.2.1.2 Evaluate Groups . 77 4.2.1.3 Calculate Products . 80 4.2.1.4 Generate . 81 4.2.2 Component Layout Process . 85 4.2.2.1 Simplex Setup . 85 4.2.2.2 Overlap Check . 86 4.2.3 Comments . 87 4.3 Software Workflow . 87 4.3.1 Menu . 88 4.3.2 Statistics Panel . 89 4.3.3 Define . 91 4.3.4 Constrain . 94 4.3.5 Hierarchy . 97 4.3.6 Specify . 98 4.3.7 Layout . 102 4.3.8 Results . 106 4.3.9 Summary . 107 4.4 Coffeemaker Example . 108 4.4.1 Define Parts of Product Family . 108 4.4.2 Constrain Component and Configuration Combinations . 110 4.4.3 View Hierarchy . 112 4.4.4 Specify Products . 113 v 4.4.5 Layout Components . 116 4.4.6 Review Results of Generation . 118 4.5 Summary . 120 CHAPTER 5: Case Studies: Automotive Interfaces .................. 122 5.1 Center Console . 123 5.1.1 Define Components and Configuration options . 123 5.1.2 Constrain Center Console Combinations . 126 5.1.3 Center Console Hierarchy . 130 5.1.4 Define Products . 132 5.1.5 Center Console Component Layout . 135 5.1.6 Review Products . 139 5.2 Instrument Panel . 144 5.2.1 Define Instrument Panel . 144 5.2.2 Constrain Instrument Panel Configurations . 146 5.2.3 Instrument Panel Hierarchy . 149 5.2.4 Instrument Panel Product Definitions . 150 5.2.5 Instrument Panel Layout . 151 5.2.6 Review Instrument Panel Products . 155 5.3 Summary . 158 CHAPTER 6: Closure ................................. 160 6.1 Answers to Research Questions . 160 6.2 Contributions . 162 6.3 Limitations . 163 6.4 Future Work . 164 6.5 Closing Remarks . 165 REFERENCES ..................................... 170 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Dimensions of Coffeemaker Component . 17 Table 3.2 Dimensions and Location of Coffeemaker Fascia . 18 Table 3.3 Configuration Categories and Options for Coffeemaker Product Family . 18 Table 3.4 Coffeemaker Product Definition . 43 Table 3.5 Coffeemaker Product Configuration Selection . 43 Table 3.6 Spatial Constraint Grammar . 47 Table 3.7 Cpffeemaker Layout Constraints . 47 Table 3.8 Coffeemaker Product Layout results . 57 Table 4.1 Fields within Comp Structure . 63 Table 4.2 Fields within Fascia Structure . 65 Table 4.3 Fields within Confcons Structure . 67 Table 4.4 Fields within Confprod Structure . 69 Table 4.5 Fields within Lay Structure . 70 Table 4.6 Fields within Constraints Sub-Structure . 71 Table 4.7 Connection Type in Product Family Configuration Layout Application . 101 Table 4.8 Dimensions of Coffeemaker Component . 109 Table 4.9 Configuration Options for Coffeemaker Product Family . 109 Table 4.10 Dimensions and Location of Coffeemaker Fascia . 109 Table 5.1 Dimensions of Center Console Components . 124 Table 5.2 Configuration Options for Center Console Product Family . 125 Table 5.3 Dimensions and Location of Center Console Fascia . 125 Table 5.4 Center Console Required Components . 127 Table 5.5 Center Console Required Pairs . 128 Table 5.6 Center Console Disallowed Pairs . 129 Table 5.7 Center Console Product Definition . 133 Table 5.8 Product Configuration Selection . 134 Table 5.9 Center Console Layout Constraints . 135 Table 5.10 Center Console Product Results . 143 Table 5.11 Dimensions of Instrument Panel Components . 145 Table 5.12 Configuration Options for Instrument Panel Product Family . 146 vii Table 5.13 Dimensions and Location of Instrument Panel Fascia . 146 Table 5.14 Instrument Panel Required Components . 147 Table 5.15 Instrument Panel Required Pairs . 147 Table 5.16 Instrument Panel Disallowed Pairs . 148 Table 5.17 Instrument Panel Product Definition . 150 Table 5.18 Instrument Panel Product Configuration Selection . 151 Table 5.19 Instrument Panel Layout Constraints . 152 Table 5.20 Instrument Panel Layout Results . 158 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Constraint Pair Connections. ..