3-Dimensional Engineering Shape Search (3DESS) System

Twenty first century product development is driven by reduction in cost/time, specialization of industry, globalization, outsourcing and geographically distributed companies. Designers spend a significant amount of time searching for information that is available but cannot be located through traditional methods. Rectification of errors that have been committed due to lack of information is a costly way to learn. Nevertheless this has become a de facto process for new product design. A significant amount of information generated during the lifecycle of a product is associated with 3D models. Reuse of this information can significantly shorten lead times and reduce costs during a product's lifecycle. Since design knowledge and context are intimately related to 3D geometry, text-based search cannot satisfy many requirements. This paper presents a brief overview of a novel approach to search for 3D models.