Intelligent design : automatic selection of off-the-shelf components

Abstract

The aim of this project is to create a software solution that will allow an engineer to quickly select an engineering component based on the operational parameters. This project is a continuation of a project that has already been started by a previous student. The current aim is to add on and expand the scope of the project to allow it to better serve engineers. The program uses python, HTML, MySQL for the calculations, GUI, and the database, respectively. This includes the use of various libraries to further support the program. The calculations for the selection of gears come from an established method that requires the user to input a few operating parameters. This results in a program that can help engineers with selecting an engineering component based on the operational parameters by helping to do the calculations and thus select an engineering component from a database. The database is created from the combination of various catalogues. However, the program still requires more work for it to be completely successful by integrating more components and optimising all the calculations.