Abstract: A process model based on product function and physical topology structure is proposed. This model decomposes the product top-down design process into module design task, part design task, design parameter and dependencies among them. According to the characteristics of the design process, an integrated collaborative design software framework is designed, which includes module task agent, part task agent and sensitivity based collaborative design method for agents. The system is developed with Java and Web technologies, and applied to gear box design case to demonstrate its utilization and efficiency.

Key words: Collaboration, Decision-making, Design task, Integration, Top-down