This project is developing techniques and tools for synthesizing three-dimensional layouts of electromechanical systems. Research in this project is exploring new combinatorial algorithms for the arrangement of mechanical components that will satisfy a large number of conflicting design constraints, including volume, shape, weight, thermal interactions, structural support, and accessibility for repair. These algorithms are being incorporated into tools for the design of wearable computers, to be fabricated under the auspices of other NSF-supported research at Carnegie Mellon University. To improve the educational aspects of this project and the connection to the realities of product design, each graduate student on the project will work as a summer intern for industrial supporters of the project in the thermal analysis and project layout groups.
