JP2008015812A - Design support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a design support system capable of efficiently improving visual quality in quasi-design face by correcting drawing data while an operator comprehend how much the visual quality level of the created drawing data is as compared that of the existing vehicles including vehicles of other companies. <P>SOLUTION: In the design support system which creates a three-dimensional design drawing of a structure being a design target and is provided with a function for supporting the design of a face formed on a rear face side of an opening/closing member of a vehicle or a quasi-design face being a vehicle component surface covered by the opening/closing member, evaluation reference data to be reference in evaluating the quasi-design face is stored, the quasi-design face to be an evaluation target or a predetermined part of the quasi-design face is designated, evaluation reference data corresponding to the designated evaluation target is read in accordance with the designation of the evaluation target, and the read evaluation reference data is displayed out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a design support system (so-called CAD system) that mainly supports the design of various structures by a computer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a surface formed on the back side of a vehicle opening / closing member or a body part surface covered with an opening / closing member. The present invention relates to a design support system and program having a function for supporting the design of a quasi-design surface.

  In recent years, in the field of vehicle manufacturing, there has been a tendency to improve the sense of quality of the vehicle body and to emphasize the design. However, the quality of the vehicle body is not limited to the design of the exterior and interior, for example, doors and trunks. , Greatly depends on the design of a surface (hereinafter referred to as a quasi-design surface) that does not correspond to the exterior or interior, such as a surface formed on the back side of an opening / closing member of a vehicle such as a bonnet or a body part surface covered with the opening / closing member. Improving the design of the semi-designed surface is an effective means for ensuring the quality of the vehicle body while reducing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle.

  By the way, in the past, when designing a vehicle such as an automatic person, generally, after the modeling design to be performed at the initial stage of design is completed, first, the design is examined for each part, and the designer in charge of each part is based on the examination result. Create part shape data using a CAD application program (hereinafter simply referred to as “CAD application”), and then check for interference between parts and whether the design criteria are met, and correct part shape data. A bottom-up design is performed, and the operations such as creation and checking of the part shape data are performed by the operator in charge of the part by operating the CAD application based on their own knowledge and experience. It was. However, according to this design method, since the knowledge about the relationship between parts and the creation and checking of part shape data belongs to the individual, the work methods and procedures differ from worker to worker, and the work time and quality vary. May come out. In addition, when designing a new product, even if there is a track record of designing the same type of product, no part shape data has been accumulated and no standardized part shape data has been prepared. Needs to be designed from the beginning.

  In order to solve such a problem, a system has been proposed in which all workers can use a part design drawing and a design standard in which accumulated know-how is standardized (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). . In this system, the management system and CAD system are combined, and the accumulated design know-how is standardized and built in the management database and drawing database, so that the design work can be managed and supported by the worker. Become.

JP 2004-295787 A

  However, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, in the conventional system using drawing data standardized for each part at the time of designing the part, what is the appearance level of the created drawing data by the operator? The drawing data could not be corrected while grasping the level of appearance of existing vehicles including other companies' vehicles in particular.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above technical problem, and an operator can understand the level of appearance of the created drawing data with respect to existing vehicles including other companies' vehicles, while drawing data. An object of the present invention is to provide a design support system and program capable of correcting the design and efficiently improving the appearance of the quasi-design surface.

  Accordingly, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is a design support system for creating a three-dimensional design drawing of a structure to be designed, and includes a surface configured on the back side of a vehicle opening / closing member or the opening / closing member. In a design support system having a function of supporting the design of the semi-design surface which is the surface of the body part to be covered, evaluation standard data storage means for storing evaluation standard data used as a standard for evaluating the semi-design surface, Evaluation target designating means for designating a quasi-design surface to be evaluated or a predetermined part of the quasi-design surface, and evaluation standard data corresponding to the designated evaluation target in accordance with the designation of the evaluation target by the evaluation target designating means Evaluation reference data reading means for reading from the evaluation reference data storage means, and evaluation reference data display for displaying and outputting the evaluation reference data read by the evaluation reference data reading means It is obtained by said to have a force means.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the evaluation reference data is data obtained by scoring appearance levels for each of the quasi-design surfaces. It is.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 3 of the present application, in the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the evaluation reference data is data in which the appearance level is scored for each predetermined part of the quasi-design surface. It is characterized by.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 of the present application is characterized in that, in any of the inventions according to claims 1 to 3, the evaluation reference data is data relating to a quasi-design surface of an existing vehicle. is there.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 5 of the present application, in the invention according to claim 4, the data regarding the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle is image data taken from the same point for all existing vehicles. It is a feature.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 6 of the present application, in any of the inventions according to claims 1 to 5, the appearance level of the designed quasi-design surface is scored while comparing with the evaluation reference data. It is characterized by having appearance level scoring means.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 7 of the present application, in any one of the inventions according to claims 1 to 6, each of the evaluation objects has the number of folds of the outer peripheral line related to the quasi-design surface, the basic surface. It is characterized by being evaluated numerically according to any of the number of steps or the number of folds, the twist of the basic surface, and the degree of change with respect to the surrounding curvature.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 8 of the present application is characterized in that, in claim 6 or 7, the appearance level scoring means weights the evaluation points of the evaluation target part. .

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 9 of the present application is a design support system for creating a three-dimensional design drawing of a structure to be designed, which is a surface formed on the back side of an opening / closing member of a vehicle or the opening / closing thereof. A procedure for storing evaluation reference data used as a reference for evaluating the quasi-design surface in a design support system having a function to support the design of the quasi-design surface, which is the surface of a body part covered with a member, and an evaluation target A procedure for designating a quasi-design surface or a predetermined part of the quasi-design surface, a procedure for reading evaluation standard data corresponding to a designated evaluation object according to the designation of the evaluation object, and a read evaluation standard A design support program that executes a procedure for displaying and outputting data.

  According to the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, the operator can correct the drawing data while grasping the appearance level of the created drawing data, and the appearance of the quasi-design surface Can be improved efficiently.

  Further, according to the invention according to claim 2 of the present application, the operator can correct the drawing data while grasping for each quasi-design surface about the appearance level of the created drawing data. it can.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 3 of the present application, the operator corrects the drawing data while grasping the appearance level of the created drawing data for each predetermined portion of the quasi-design surface. can do.

  Still further, according to the invention according to claim 4 of the present application, the worker understands how much the appearance level of the created drawing data is, in particular, with respect to existing vehicles including other companies' vehicles. Data can be corrected.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 5 of the present application, an operator can easily perform comparison between a vehicle to be designed and an existing vehicle and between a plurality of existing vehicles.

  Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 6 of the present application, the worker can correct the drawing data while grasping the appearance level of the created drawing data.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 7 of the present application, it is possible to evaluate the quasi-design surface by the same scale with an objective evaluation criterion.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 8 of the present application, it is possible to make adjustment so as to coincide with the evaluation level when the user actually looks at the quasi-design surface.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 9 of the present application, the operator can correct the drawing data while grasping the level of appearance of the created drawing data, and the semi-design The appearance of the surface can be improved efficiently.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a design support system is configured by installing a CAD application program in the information processing apparatus 1 including a general-purpose PC. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 1 is based on a program such as an operating system (OS) that is basic software, and the CPU 2 that sequentially controls each component in the information processing apparatus 1. A ROM 3 that records a boot program to be executed, a RAM 4 that is used as a buffer area of a work area necessary for executing the program, and a hard disk ("HD" in the figure) 5 that stores an OS, application programs, and various data And an external interface unit for transmitting and receiving various data between the monitor 6 as a display output device capable of displaying various information such as an application screen, the input device 7 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and an external device ( "External I / F" in the figure) 8, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM It has the optical disc drive 9 which can read an optical disc 19, a.

  Here, a CAD application program (hereinafter referred to as “CAD application”) is stored in the ROM 3 or the hard disk 5, and the operator can design the information processing apparatus 1 as the CAD application is read and executed. A three-dimensional design drawing of the target structure can be created.

  In the present embodiment, when creating a three-dimensional design drawing using such a CAD application, the worker grasps the point of correction of the drawing data, and what is the appearance level of the designed drawing data. The drawing data can be corrected while grasping about the surface of the exterior or interior design, such as the surface constructed on the back side of the vehicle opening and closing members such as doors, trunks, bonnets, or the surface of the body parts covered with the opening and closing members. Therefore, the designer is relatively less involved in modeling, and the appearance of the surface on which the designer can model relatively freely (hereinafter referred to as a quasi-design surface) can be improved efficiently.

  In this CAD application, in addition to a general three-dimensional design drawing creation function, as shown in FIG. 2, a reference data storage function f1 for storing data used as a reference in designing a semi-design surface in the RAM 4 or the hard disk 5; The design target designating function f2 for designating the quasi-design surface to be designed and a predetermined part of the quasi-design surface, and the reference data corresponding to the designated evaluation target from the RAM 4 or the hard disk 5 according to the design target designation. A reference data read function f3 for reading and a reference data display output function f4 for displaying and outputting the read reference data are incorporated.

In the present embodiment, data representing rules (hereinafter referred to as “standard rules”) relating to quasi-design surfaces defined as standard shapes and quasi-design surface image data satisfying the standard rules are employed as reference data. Further, as the reference data, data related to the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle is adopted. Furthermore, as the reference data, data representing the design requirements of the semi-design surface and image data of the semi-design surface satisfying the design requirements are adopted.
Further, as a function of the CAD application, a function f5 for automatically drawing a quasi-design surface to be designed based on the reference data is incorporated as necessary. It should be noted that the operator can arbitrarily determine the use of the drawing data that is automatically operated.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the functions described above, this CAD application has an evaluation reference data storage function for storing evaluation reference data used as a reference in evaluating the semi-design surface in the RAM 4 or the hard disk 5. f6, an evaluation object designating function f7 for designating a quasi-design surface to be evaluated or a predetermined part of the quasi-design surface, and evaluation reference data corresponding to the designated evaluation object in accordance with the designation of the evaluation object in RAM 4 or An evaluation standard data reading function f8 for reading from the hard disk 5 and an evaluation standard data display output function f9 for displaying and outputting the read evaluation standard data on the monitor 6 are incorporated.

In the present embodiment, as the evaluation reference data, data in which the appearance level is scored for each quasi-design surface or each predetermined part of the quasi-design surface is employed. In addition, as the evaluation reference data, data relating to the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle is employed.
Furthermore, as a function of the CAD application, a function f10 is incorporated that scores the quasi-design surface appearance level corresponding to the designed drawing data while comparing it with the evaluation reference data.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing various data used when creating a three-dimensional design drawing. In the information processing apparatus 1, a CAD application is stored, and also includes “data for drawing” including data representing standard rules and data representing design requirements for each quasi-design surface, and data regarding quasi-design surfaces of existing vehicles. “Evaluation data” and “CAD data” (not shown) relating to the semi-design surface of the developed vehicle are stored in advance, and these data are read out as necessary when creating a three-dimensional design drawing. Used. Evaluation data and drawing data are prepared for each quasi-design surface of the vehicle and each predetermined part of the quasi-design surface. In FIG. 3, as an example, evaluation data and drawing data regarding each quasi-design surface of “center pillar front part” and “bonnet back side part” are shown.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the drawing data includes data representing standard rules (standard rule data) and quasi-design surface image data satisfying the standard rules. As will be described in detail later, the image data is used to construct an image displayed on the right side in FIG. 6, and the standard rule data configures text attached to each part of the quasi-design surface in the image. Used as much as possible. In addition, the drawing data includes data (requirement data) representing design requirements regarding each quasi-design surface and image data related to the design requirements. As will be described in detail later, the image data is used to construct an image displayed on the right side in FIG. 7, and the requirement data is used to construct a text displayed together with the image.

  On the other hand, the evaluation data is the image data and evaluation result data of the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle (here, the A car and the B car) as the reference for comparison with the vehicle to be designed, evaluation viewpoint data, and evaluation scoring reference data. Including. As will be described in detail later, the image data of the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle is used to construct an image of the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle displayed on the upper right side in FIG. It is used to construct an evaluation result displayed in a column provided on the right side of each image on the semi-design surface of the vehicle. Further, the evaluation viewpoint data is used to construct “appearance evaluation viewpoint” assigned to each part (A, B, C, D,...) As an evaluation target in the table displayed below in FIG. Further, the evaluation scoring standard data is used to construct scoring standards corresponding to points 0 to 6 set for each appearance evaluation viewpoint.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of shooting points of image data of the quasi-design surface of each existing vehicle. In the present embodiment, as the image data of the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle, image data taken from the same point determined from the possible viewpoint that the user most frequently views these quasi-design surfaces for all existing vehicles Is adopted. For example, the front part of the center pillar (B pillar) at the door opening is taken from a point set at a height of 160 cm from the ground, 1 m away from the outermost side of the vehicle (point of view of the person P2 in FIG. 4). The processed image data is adopted. The viewpoint of the person P1 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the shooting point of the front pillar (A pillar), the viewpoint of the person P3 corresponds to the shooting point at the rear of the center pillar, and the viewpoint of the person P4 is the rear pillar or the rear door. Corresponds to the front shooting point.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the quasi-design surface design process executed according to the CAD application in the information processing apparatus 1. In this process, first, a quasi-design surface to be designed is specified (# 11). Thereafter, image data of the developed vehicle and the existing vehicle stored in advance is extracted (# 12). Thereby, the image data of the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle corresponding to the quasi-design surface designated in step # 11 and the CAD data of the developed vehicle are extracted.

  Next, a scoring standard is created based on the scoring standard data (# 13). As a result, among the image data of the existing vehicles extracted in step # 12, the best one is 6 points, but it is bad. The score is 0, and a scoring standard is created. Subsequently, an evaluation score is calculated for the CAD data of the developed vehicle (# 14). In step # 14, an evaluation score is assigned to each quasi-design surface included in the CAD data of the developed vehicle based on the scoring standard created in step # 13. More specifically, weighting is performed according to the importance for each area / evaluation viewpoint, and a total evaluation score is calculated. For example, in the case of the corner of D part, 1 to 6 points are given according to the degree of change R with respect to the surrounding curvature, and weighting is performed according to this importance.

  Further, if necessary, the automatic operation diagram is executed, and the created drawing data is presented to the worker as a correction plan (# 15). Here, for the quasi-design surface whose evaluation score calculated in step # 14 is a predetermined number or less, the automatic operation diagram is executed so that the design requirement based on the requirement data included as the drawing data is satisfied as described above. Thereafter, it is presented to the operator. The process is thus completed.

  The quasi-design surface design process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is executed by reading a program stored in the information processing apparatus 1, and the program is based on the control by the CPU 2 of the information processing apparatus 1. Or downloaded as a design support program by using an external recording medium such as an optical disk 19 or a floppy (registered trademark) disk or via a network. It may be additionally stored in the information processing apparatus 1.

FIGS. 6 to 9 show examples of screens displayed on the monitor 6 of the information processing apparatus 1 while the above-described quasi-design surface design process is executed.
First, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a standard rule display screen. In this screen, if a predetermined part (for example, a corner part) of a quasi-design surface (here, the front part of the center pillar) in the CAD data of the development vehicle displayed on the left side of the screen is specified by positioning the cursor, that part Standard rule data corresponding to is displayed in text. In addition to the standard rule data, image data corresponding to the designated part is displayed on the right side of the screen. In the example shown in FIG. 6, all standard rule data relating to the quasi-design surface including the designated part is displayed together with the image data. In addition, it is not limited to this, Only the standard rule data regarding the designated site | part may be displayed.
In addition, buttons for shifting to an “automatic operation diagram screen”, a “requirement display screen”, and a “comparison screen with an existing vehicle” are provided at the bottom of the screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the requirement display screen. In this screen, if a predetermined part (for example, a corner part) of a quasi-design surface (here, the front part of the center pillar) in the CAD data of the development vehicle displayed on the left side of the screen is specified by positioning the cursor, that part Standard rule data corresponding to is displayed in text. On the right side of the screen, requirement data corresponding to the designated part and image data related to the requirement data are displayed. Attached Tables 1 and 2 based on the image data represent the WR curvature with respect to the surface angle and the amount of driving in with respect to the surface angle, respectively.
In addition, on the lower side of the screen, buttons for shifting to an “automatic operation diagram screen”, a “standard rule display screen”, and a “comparison screen with an existing vehicle” are provided.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a comparison screen with an existing vehicle. On the upper side of the screen, evaluation points of each part are displayed together with images of the developed vehicle and the existing vehicle. Also, on the lower side of the screen, a scoring standard created in advance to calculate the evaluation score of each part to be evaluated of the developed vehicle is displayed in a table. Reference signs A to D in the table respectively correspond to reference signs A to D that indicate each evaluation target part included in the quasi-design surface (front part of the center pillar) displayed in the image on the upper side of the screen. Then, based on the evaluation viewpoint data described above, these parts to be evaluated are “the number of folds of the outer peripheral line”, “the number of steps / folds of the basic surface configuration”, and “the twist of the basic surface”, respectively. "," Appearance evaluation viewpoint of "degree of change with respect to surrounding curvature" is set. A scoring standard corresponding to each point of 0 to 6 set for each appearance evaluation viewpoint is set based on the above-described evaluation scoring standard data. In setting the scoring criteria, the best one of the existing vehicles is scored for each evaluation part, while the worst one is scored as 0, and the scores are scored so that they are even.

  Finally, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the automatic operation diagram screen. As described above, the automatic operation diagram is executed for the quasi-design surface having a predetermined number of points or less. On the left side of the screen on which the image of the developed vehicle is displayed, a part having an evaluation score equal to or less than a predetermined number is displayed in an identifiable manner such as surrounded by a frame F. In this example, the number of corners to which the symbol D is attached is four or less, so that the corner F is displayed so as to be surrounded by the frame F.

  When the “Automatic diagram execution” button set at the bottom of the screen is clicked, the automatic diagram is executed so that the design requirements based on the requirement data related to the corner are satisfied, and the corrected image is displayed on the right side of the screen. The As a result of the correction, the curve in the frame F becomes slightly smoother, and the evaluation score regarding the corner portion changes from “3” to “5”. In the present embodiment, the result of the correction is not automatically adopted, and after the correction, the result of the correction is presented to the worker, and the decision to adopt is left to the worker. Yes.

  As is clear from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the worker can grasp the correction point of the drawing data and the appearance level of the created drawing data is particularly for existing vehicles including other companies' vehicles. The drawing data can be corrected while grasping the extent of the image, and the appearance of the semi-design surface can be improved efficiently.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and it goes without saying that various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the design support system including the information processing apparatus in which the CAD application is installed is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the CAD application managed by the server is not limited to this. It is shared among users of each information processing device, and the user can arbitrarily access the server from each information processing device and create a 3D design drawing using a CAD application managed by the server. It can also be applied to design support systems. In such a design support system, data created or modified on each information processing apparatus side is transmitted to the server side and collectively managed by the server.

It is a figure showing the basic composition of the information processor which constitutes the design support system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function integrated in the CAD application managed by the said information processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing data used by the design support system. It is explanatory drawing about the imaging | photography point of the image data of the semi-design surface of each existing vehicle. It is a flowchart about the quasi-design surface design process performed by the said design support system. It is a figure which shows an example of a standard rule display screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a requirement display screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a comparison screen with the existing vehicle. It is a figure which shows an example of an automatic drawing screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... RAM, 5 ... Hard disk, 6 ... Monitor, 7 ... Input device, 8 ... External interface, 9 ... Optical disk drive, 19 ... Optical disk.

Claims (9)

A design support system for creating a three-dimensional design drawing of a structure to be designed, which is a design of a quasi-design surface which is a surface configured on the back side of a vehicle opening / closing member or a body part surface covered with the opening / closing member In a design support system with a function to support
Evaluation reference data storage means for storing evaluation reference data used as a reference in evaluating the quasi-design surface;
An evaluation object designating means for designating a semi-design surface to be evaluated or a predetermined part of the semi-design surface;
In accordance with the designation of the evaluation object by the evaluation object designating means, the evaluation standard data reading means for reading out the evaluation standard data corresponding to the designated evaluation object from the evaluation standard data storage means,
A design support system comprising: evaluation reference data display output means for displaying and outputting evaluation reference data read by the evaluation reference data reading means.   The design support system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation reference data is data obtained by scoring appearance levels for each of the semi-design surfaces.   The design support system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation reference data is data in which an appearance level is scored for each part to be evaluated on the semi-design surface.   The design support system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation reference data is data related to a quasi-design surface of an existing vehicle.   5. The design support according to claim 4, wherein the data relating to the quasi-design surface of the existing vehicle is image data taken from the same point where the user most frequently views the quasi-design surface for all existing vehicles. system.   Furthermore, it has an appearance level scoring means for scoring the appearance level of the designed semi-design surface while comparing it with the evaluation reference data. The design support system described in 1.   Each part to be evaluated is quantified by any of the number of folds of the outer peripheral line related to the quasi-design surface, the number of steps or folds of the basic surface configuration, the twist of the basic surface, and the degree of change with respect to the surrounding curvature. The design support system according to claim 1, wherein the design support system is evaluated as described above.   The design support system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the appearance level scoring means weights the evaluation points of the evaluation target part. A design support system for creating a three-dimensional design drawing of a structure to be designed, which is a design of a quasi-design surface which is a surface configured on the back side of a vehicle opening / closing member or a body part surface covered with the opening / closing member In a design support system with a function to support
A procedure for storing evaluation reference data used as a reference in evaluating the quasi-design surface;
A procedure for designating a quasi-design surface to be evaluated or a predetermined part of the quasi-design surface;
In accordance with the designation of the evaluation target, a procedure for reading evaluation standard data corresponding to the specified evaluation target,
A design support program for executing a procedure for displaying and outputting the read evaluation standard data.

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