Product conceptual design and innovation engineering research present situation and development direction

Conceptual design is regarded as an important stage of product design. The conceptual design has decisive influence on the product design. Based on analyzing the concept and general process of conceptual design, the key technologies including design process modeling, concept information representation, design scheme generation, design scheme selection and prototype system development, are presented. The state-of the-art of these technologies is comprehensively investigated and the comparisons of advantages and disadvantages between the various approaches involved in these technologies are provide. The paper has analysed five respects of product innovation in conceptual design especially. The current problems in conceptual design are summarized. Finally, the development directions of conceptual design are discussed and the avenues of future exploration are indemnified