Integrating CBR and RBR for Nutritional Menu Design

An integrated approach is presented, in which a primarily case-based reasoning (CBR) system for nutritional menu design is enhanced by rule-based reasoning (RBR). In nutritional menu planning, a nutritionist plans a daily menu for a single individual, taking dietary requirements and personal preferences into account. This task requires satisfaction of multiple numeric nutrition constraints plus personal preference goals and aesthetic criteria. In our approach, CBR is used to satisfy multiple numeric constraints, while RBR allows the introduction of new foods into menus and the performance of "what if" analysis needed for creative design. We developed our approach by combining the strengths of independent CBR and RBR menu planning systems. We believe the approach would extend to other design domains in which both physical constraints and aesthetic considerations are important, such as college course advising, architecture, and new product design.