Stage 4: Model evaluation

In this future stage of work we plan to evaluate the formal model to determine whether it provides a useful measure of CAD complexity. We will examine the results of Stage 3 and determine whether any normalisation of the data is possible, whether there are any trends or anomalies to be found, and whether the results coincide with our expectations drawn from experience. The evaluation of this experiment also allows us to determine the feasibility of continuing the project on a larger scale by

• constructing a larger sample set of CAD models; and
• testing more of the complexity criteria from our formal model.

We will attempt to draw some conclusions regarding the use of these formal measures of complexity to improve the usage of CAD technology in practice, as well as in the selection and assessment of student projects.