Fuzzy Case-Based Reasoning for Conflict Resolution in Collaborative Design

The collaborative design is an important style for modern design. But the conflict appears in the process of design which may interface the design. Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a good method for conflict resolution, which has been applied in the artificial intelligence field successfully. However, due to the uncertainties in knowledge representation, attribute description, and similarity measures of CBR, it is very difficult to find the similar cases from case database. To solve the problem of conflict resolution in collaborative design, a fuzzy case-based reasoning (CBR) is proposed. The process of fuzzy case-based reasoning (CBR) is introduced. Based on the feature attributes and their relative weights determined by a fuzzy technique, a fuzzy CBR retrieving mechanism is developed to retrieve conflict resolution cases that tend to enhance the functions of the database. The theory and methods of fuzzy CBR is applied to define the cases. By indexing, calculating the weight and defuzzication of the cases, the case similarity can be obtained. Then the case consistency is measured to keep the result right. Finally, the method is demonstrated availably for conflict resolution by means of a case study.