CarHoods10k: An Industry-Grade Data Set for Representation Learning and Design Optimization in Engineering Applications

Large-scale, high-quality data sets are central to the development of advanced machine learning techniques that increase the effectiveness of existing optimization methods or even inspire novel ones. Especially in the engineering domain, such high-quality data sets are rare due to confidentiality concerns and generation costs, be it computational or manual efforts. We, therefore, introduce the OSU-Honda Automobile Hood Dataset (CarHoods10k), an industry-grade 3-D vehicle hood data set of over 10 000 shapes along with mechanical performance data that were validated against real-world hood designs by industry experts. CarHoods10k offers researchers and practitioners the unique opportunity to develop novel methods on realistic data with relevance to real-world vehicle design. To illustrate central use cases, we first apply methods from geometric deep learning to learn a compact latent representation for design space exploration. Second, we use machine learning models to predict mechanical hood performance from the learned latent representation. We thus demonstrate the effectiveness of machine learning for building metamodels, which are used in design optimization whenever possible to replace costly engineering simulations. Third, we integrate CarHoods10k in a topology optimization approach based on evolutionary algorithms to demonstrate its capability to search for high-performing structures, while maintaining manufacturability constraints.