THESAURUS FOR NATURAL-LANGUAGE-BASED CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

Conceptual design is a process wherein new functions are created through engineering design. In conceptual design, we use natural language since it plays an important role in the expression and operation of a function. Moreover, natural language is used in our day-to-day thinking processes and is expected to keep a fine interface with the designer. However, it is at a disadvantage with regard to the expression of a function, since physical phenomena, which are the essence of a function, are better expressed in the form of mathematical equations than natural languages. In this study, we attempt to develop a method for using natural language for operating a function by harnessing its advantages and overcoming its disadvantage. We focus on the vital process in conceptual design, that is, the function dividing process wherein the required function is decomposed into sub functions that satisfy the required function. We construct a thesaurus by semiautomatic extraction of the hierarchical structures of words from a document by using natural language processing. We show that the constructed thesaurus can be useful in supporting the function dividing process.