Systematization of design knowledge

It is expected that future design/manufacturing systems should be autonomous, metamorphological, self-organizing, self-maintaining/recovering, and intelligent. To develop such systems, the concept of knowledge intensiveness plays a crucial role. Developing knowledge intensive systems requires building large scale knowledge bases on manufacturing and design. Our experiences with developing a large scale design knowledge base for intelligent CAD systems show, however, that without systematizing design knowledge it is impossible even just to collect knowledge. This paper discusses aims, goals, and roles of design knowledge systematization and proposes a systematization methodology. Some preliminary results are also described.