Tracing interesting features in trade spaces to conceptual model design rules

The ARL Trade Space Visualizer (ATSV) is a multi-dimensional data visualization interface used early in conceptual design to visualize engineering trade spaces. Conceptual models, which are based on design rules found in open literature, are used to rapidly populate trade spaces. Recently, efforts in the ATSV development have focused on the feature finder process, which allows a decision-maker to trace interesting features in trade spaces to conceptual model design rules. Examples of interesting features include isosurfaces, knees in the curve, and discrete trends. The motivation behind the feature finder process is to provide decision-makers with the capability to validate which design rules in the conceptual model cause interesting features in trade spaces. The steps in the feature finder process include finding interesting features in the trade space, identifying design rules that cause interesting features, and locating these design rules in the conceptual model. The feature finder process will be demonstrated using a trade space based on satellite design. ^1,2