RATIONALE

Campbell, Automated Synthesis 

Tolga Kurtoglu, Albert Swantner, Matthew I. Campbell (2008)
"Automating the Conceptual Design Process: From Black-box to Component
Selection", Proc. Design Computing and Cognition '08, Springer, pp.
553-572

OR from 

AI EDAM 24(1):49-62 (2010)


This paper by one of the main proponents of grammar-based design,
shows what is currently possible using these techniques.  It also
shows where some of the difficulties lie.  They use a function-based
synthesis approach where functional descriptions are refined down to
alternative conceptual designs for electromechanical devices.