scientific-figure-director

name	scientific-figure-director
description	Plans, prompts, and audits scientific figures, diagrams, and GPT Image outputs for Robotics & AI papers. Use when the user asks where figures are needed, what figure to draw, how to prompt image generation, or whether a returned figure is scientifically valid.

Scientific Figure Director

Use this for scientific visual planning and review, not decorative illustration.

Inputs

• Manuscript section, method notes, result table, experiment setup, or draft figure.
• Desired figure role: explain, compare, diagnose, summarize, or persuade.
• Target output: figure plan, diagram spec, GPT Image prompt, plotting brief, or returned-figure audit.

If the scientific claim is unclear, define it before choosing a visual style.

Workflow

1. Identify the figure's scientific job: method explanation, experimental setup, result comparison, failure case, taxonomy, or system pipeline.
2. Define the figure claim in one sentence.
3. Choose figure type:
   • pipeline or architecture diagram;
   • robot/system setup;
   • flowchart or decision process;
   • comparison table or matrix;
   • quantitative plot;
   • conceptual taxonomy.
4. Decide whether the figure should be generated, drawn as a diagram, plotted from data, or specified for a human designer.
5. Write a prompt or diagram spec that includes entities, relationships, arrow semantics, panel labels, constraints, and forbidden ambiguities.
6. Audit the generated figure against references/figure-contract.md.

Figure Spec

## Figure job
## Scientific claim
## Paper section
## Figure type
## Panels
| Panel | Content | Claim | Required labels |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
## Entities and relationships
## Arrow semantics
## Data source or evidence
## Forbidden ambiguities
## Style constraints

Prompt Contract

Every prompt should specify:

• target venue or paper context;
• exact entities and labels;
• arrow meaning;
• left-to-right or top-to-bottom logic;
• what must not appear;
• expected panel structure;
• style constraints appropriate for a scientific paper.

Do not ask an image model to invent exact plots, numeric values, paper-specific results, citations, robot hardware, or benchmark details. For quantitative results, request a plot specification or use real data.

Returned Figure Audit

When the user returns an image, inspect:

• factual correctness;
• arrow direction and causal logic;
• label accuracy and spelling;
• visual hierarchy;
• overlap and readability;
• whether the figure supports the paper claim.

Validation

• The figure claim matches a manuscript claim.
• Every visual element has a scientific role.
• Arrows distinguish data flow, control flow, causality, training, and inference.
• Labels are readable and technically accurate.
• The figure does not introduce unsupported mechanisms, results, or entities.

Completion

Done means the figure plan or audit states whether the figure is acceptable, what must change, and why.