TECHNIQUES FOR USING CONTROLLED NATURAL LANGUAGE TO CAPTURE DESIGN INTENT FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN

• US 20150324493A1
• Filed: 05/08/2015
• Published: 11/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Inventors: IORIO, Francesco, LI, Wei, CHEONG, Hyunmin
• Granted Patent: US 11,113,430 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/425 Lexical analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/427 Parsing

Abstract

A computing device for receiving a design problem statement describing a design problem in a controlled natural language (CNL) that defines permitted lexicons and syntax structures. The design problem statement is processed using the CNL lexicons and syntax structures to produce a job description executable by a design application for generating a design solution for the design problem statement. An improved CNL user interface that assists users to produce valid design problem statements that are CNL-compliant. The CNL user interface receives user-selectable terms that are compliant with the CNL lexicons and generates candidate problem statements that are compliant with CNL syntax structures and receives a selection of a candidate problem statement that is added to the design problem statement. A graphical user interface may display a graphical representation of a design problem statement that can be directly modified. A dialogue-based design process to explore possible design intentions and design solutions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a design problem statement that is compliant with a controlled natural language (CNL) that defines permitted lexicons and syntax structures, the design problem statement specifying a plurality of objects and at least one relationship between two objects; and

displaying, via a user interface, a graphical representation of the design problem statement that includes a plurality of nodes associated with the plurality of objects and further includes at least one edge associated with the at least one relationship.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing the received design problem statement using the lexicons and syntax structures of the CNL to produce an executable job description that, when executed, produces the design solution for the design problem statement.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, text for names of the objects and a numerical value associated with the at least one relationship.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving one or more modifications to the graphical representation via the user interface;

modifying the design problem statement based on the one or more modifications to the graphical representation; and

displaying, via the user interface, a graphical representation of the modified design problem statement.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

processing the modified design problem statement using the lexicons and syntax structures of the CNL to produce an executable job description that, when executed, produces the design solution for the design problem statement.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

before displaying the graphical representation, producing a parsed representation of the received design problem statement, wherein displaying the graphical representation comprises displaying the parsed representation of the received design problem statement.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one edge comprises a line having a different appearance associated with each different type of relationship.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, a relationship legend that includes each different type of relationship and the appearance associated with the different type that represents each type of relationship.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one relationship comprises a mechanical connection relationship, an applied force relationship, a spatial relationship, or a part-whole relationship.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of:

receiving a design problem statement that is compliant with a controlled natural language (CNL) that defines permitted lexicons and syntax structures, the design problem statement specifying a plurality of objects and at least one relationship between two objects; and

displaying, via a user interface, a graphical representation of the design problem statement that includes a plurality of nodes associated with the plurality of objects and further includes at least one edge associated with the at least one relationship.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

processing the received design problem statement using the lexicons and syntax structures of the CNL to produce an executable job description that, when executed, produces the design solution for the design problem statement.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

displaying, in the user interface, a relationship legend that includes each different type of relationship and the appearance associated with the different type that represents each type of relationship.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

receiving one or more modifications to the graphical representation via the user interface;

modifying the design problem statement based on the one or more modifications to the graphical representation; and

displaying, via the user interface, a graphical representation of the modified design problem statement.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising the step of:

processing the modified design problem statement using the lexicons and syntax structures of the CNL to produce an executable job description that, when executed, produces the design solution for the design problem statement.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein:

the one or more modifications comprise modification of a position of a node or edge within the graphical user interface.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein:

the one or more modifications comprise deleting or adding a node or edge within the graphical user interface.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

displaying, in the user interface, text for names of the objects and a numerical value associated with the at least one relationship.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein a node representing an object comprises a two-dimensional or three-dimensional illustration that visually resembles the represented object.

19. A system comprising:

a memory that includes a CNL graphical user interface (UI) engine; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein, upon executing the CNL graphical UI engine, is configured to;

receive a design problem statement that is compliant with a controlled natural language (CNL) that defines permitted lexicons and syntax structures, the design problem statement specifying a plurality of objects and at least one relationship between two objects; and

display, in a user interface, a graphical representation of the received design problem statement, the graphical representation comprising a plurality of nodes representing the plurality of objects and at least one edge representing the at least one relationship.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor executes the CNL graphical UI engine further for:

receiving one or more modifications to the graphical representation via the user interface.