Feature-Based Component Model for Computer Aided Process Planning Systems

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to report on some of our research findings in developing generative process planning systems. A feature-based model for describing component geometry and connectivity, and a hierarchical structure for form features definition and classification are presented, as are methods for representing the capabilities of machine tools. These models form the basis for decision making in our prototype process planning system GENPLAN. As an example, the paper reports on how the models are being used for reasoning about component geometry and the linguistic approach adopted for machine tool selection in process planning. The component and processing system models and the linguistic approach used for representing their information are proving useful for geometric reasoning and machine tool selection tasks in computer aided process planning.