Tools For Preliminary Parametric Design

Contents

In design projects with limited resources, especially those directed at developing novel designs, it is often necessary to rapidly prune the space of alternatives. The first level of pruning typically strives to eliminate a concept or idea by proving that it cannot be built to the desired specifications without violating the laws of physics or a specific technological limitation. Designs passing this first level of pruning can then be compared on various criteria such as cost, complexity etc. I refer to the first level of pruning as preliminary parametric design and define it as follows, An exploration of a design concept performed by varying the values of the parameters occurring in the equations and constraints that govern the design.