A Partial Mechanical Design Compiler

I have implemented a simple "mechanical design compiler", that is a program which can convert high-level descriptions of a mechanical design into detailed descriptions. (Human interaction is sometimes required.) The program operates in the domain of power transmis-sion equipment composed of discrete, purchasable components. I de-scribe a semantic theory which assigns meanings to the high-level descriptions, and a set of operations on statements in a "specifica-tion language " which perform some of the reasoning required by the "compilation " process. Copyright @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988 A. I. Laboratory Working Papers are produced for internal circulation, and may con-tain information that is, for example, too preliminary or too detailed for formal publication. It is not intended that they should be considered papers to which reference can be made in the literature.