The Topdown System and its use in Teaching - An Exploration of Structured, Knowledge-Based Design (1988)
article⁄The Topdown System and its use in Teaching - An Exploration of Structured, Knowledge-Based Design (1988)
abstract⁄The Topdown System is a shell for use in developing simple but we believe nontrivial knowledgebased CAD systems. It provides a data structure, graphics capabilities, a sophisticated user interface, and programming tools for rapid construction of knowledge bases. Implementation is for Macintosh, Macintosh II, IBM PCAT, PS12, and Sun workstations.The basic idea is that of topdown design beginning with a very abstract representation, and elaborating that, in stepbystep fashion, into a complete and detailed representation. The basic operations are realtime parametric variation of designs using the mouse and slide bar and substitution of objects. Essentially, then, a knowledgebase in Topdown implements a kind of parametric shape grammar.The main applications of Topdown are in introductory teaching of CAD, and since it provides a very quick and easy way for a user to develop detailed geometric models to provide a uniform frontend for a variety of different applications. The shell, and some example knowledgebases, are publicly available.This paper discusses the principles of the Topdown Shell, the implementation of knowledge bases within it, and a variety of practical design applications.
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| Year |
1988 |
| Authors |
Mitchell, William; Liggett, Robin S.; Tan, Milton. |
| Issue |
Computing in Design Education |
| Pages |
251-262 |
| Library link |
Pamela J. Bancroft, 1988. bib⁄Computing In Design Education. ACADIA. |
| Entry filename |
topdown-system-its-use-teaching-exploration |
