A repository for design, process planning and assembly

doi:10.1016/S0010-4485(97)00028-6

Computer-Aided Design

Volume 29, Issue 12, December 1997, Pages 895-905

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-4485(97)00028-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to the Design, Planning and Assembly Repository available through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of the Repository is to provide a publically accessible collection of 2D and 3D CAD and solid models from industry problems. In this way, research and development efforts can obtain and share examples, focus on benchmarks, and identify areas of research need. The Repository is available through the World Wide Web at URL http://www.parts.nist.gov/parts.

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Cited by (64)

Extraction of Formal Manufacturing Rules from Unstructured English Text
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Citation Excerpt :
Such rigorously developed datasets can form a repository that can be used to benchmark/validate different developed by researchers in this field. This would be akin to the work done, in the past, by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in developing a large collection of models from the industry [61]. In this paper, we have assumed that the ontology is complete to the extent that it covers all the concepts that are needed by the entire sets of rules.
Semantics-based approaches – founded on the idea of explicitly encoding meaning separately from the data or the application code – are being applied to manufacturing, for example, to enable early manufacturability feedback. These approaches rely on formal, i.e., computer-interpretable, knowledge and rules along with the context or semantics, which facilitates the reuse and sharing of the knowledge via semantic web technologies. On the other hand, manufacturing knowledge has been maintained primarily in the form of unstructured English text. It is considered impractical for engineers to author accurate, formal, and structured manufacturing rules. However, previous efforts on extracting semantics from unstructured text in manufacturing have mainly focused on basic concept names and hierarchies for ontology creation, rather than extracting complex manufacturing rules. In this context, this paper focuses on the development of a semantics-based framework for acquiring formal manufacturing rules from English text, such as those written in manufacturing handbooks, by guiding standard Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques with formal manufacturing knowledge (i.e., controlled vocabulary and domain ontology). Specifically, this paper studies the problem of rule extraction in the manufacturing domain, proposes the formal rule extraction framework, and demonstrates its feasibility. From the dataset of 133 sentences with a manufacturing rule, the proposed framework was able to extract correct rules from approximately 57% of the sentences. This paper also demonstrates the extensibility of the framework. Specifically, the framework was initially developed using the three sections of a manufacturing handbook, including milling, metal stamping, and die-casting sections, and could be successfully applied to the rest of the book after just updating the formal manufacturing knowledge to cover the other sections. This paper provides meaningful results in terms of formalization, thus will contribute to the development, sharing, and reuse of formal manufacturing knowledge that includes complex manufacturing rules.
A flexible and extensible approach to automated CAD/CAM format classification
2013, Computers and Graphics (Pergamon)
Citation Excerpt :
In Section 4, we present comprehensive experiments using the Drexel University Design Repository. The Drexel Design Repository originated at NIST in 1993 and contains tens of thousands of CAD, CAM, and other related engineering data in hundreds of formats [5–7]. The Drexel Repository spans two decades and includes formats that date back to the 1980s (e.g., from the early CAD system Romulus) and multiple versions of formats (e.g., models from ACIS 1.1, multiple versions of Pro/E dating back to the early 1990s).
There are hundreds of distinct 3D, CAD and engineering file formats. As engineering design and analysis has become increasingly digital, the proliferation of file formats has created many problems for data preservation, data exchange, and interoperability. In some situations, physical file objects exist on legacy media and must be identified and interpreted for reuse. In other cases, file objects may have varying representational expressiveness.
We introduce the problem of automated file recognition and classification in emerging digital engineering environments, where all design, manufacturing and production activities are “born digital.” The result is that massive quantities and varieties of data objects are created during the product lifecycle.
This paper presents an approach to automated identification of engineering file formats. This work operates independent of any modeling tools and can identify families of related file objects as well as variations in versions. This problem is challenging as it cannot assume any a priori knowledge about the nature of the physical file object. Applications for these methods include support for a number of emerging applications in areas such as forensic analysis, data translation, as well as digital curation and long-term data management.
Integration of product design, process planning, scheduling, and FMS control using XML data representation
2010, Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
An efficient model for communications between CAD, CAPP, and CAM applications in distributed manufacturing planning environment has been seen as key ingredient for CIM. Integration of design model with process and scheduling information in real-time is necessary in order to increase product quality, reduce the cost, and shorten the product manufacturing cycle. This paper describes an approach to integrate key product realization activities using neutral data representation. The representation is based on established standards for product data exchange and serves as a prototype implementation of these standards. The product and process models are based on object-oriented representation of geometry, features, and resulting manufacturing processes. Relationships between objects are explicitly represented in the model (for example, feature precedence relations, process sequences, etc.). The product model is developed using XML-based representation for product data required for process planning and the process model also uses XML representation of data required for scheduling and FMS control. The procedures for writing and parsing XML representations have been developed in object-oriented approach, in such a way that each object from object-oriented model is responsible for storing its own data into XML format. Similar approach is adopted for reading and parsing of the XML model. Parsing is performed by a stack of XML handlers, each corresponding to a particular object in XML hierarchical model. This approach allows for very flexible representation, in such a way that only a portion of the model (for example, only feature data, or only the part of process plan for a single machine) may be stored and successfully parsed into another application. This is very useful approach for direct distributed applications, in which data are passed in the form of XML streams to allow real-time on-line communication. The feasibility of the proposed model is verified in a couple of scenarios for distributed manufacturing planning that involves feature mapping from CAD file, process selection for several part designs integrated with scheduling and simulation of the FMS model using alternative routings.
An artificial intelligence planning approach to manufacturing feature recognition
2010, CAD Computer Aided Design
Within manufacturing, features have been widely accepted as useful concepts, and in particular they are used as an interface between CAD and CAPP systems. Previous research on feature recognition focus on the issues of intersecting features and multiple interpretations, but do not address the problem of custom features representation. Representation of features is an important aspect for making feature recognition more applicable in practice. In this paper a hybrid procedural and knowledge-based approach based on artificial intelligence planning is presented, which addresses both classic feature interpretation and also feature representation problems. STEP designs are presented as case studies in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model.
Introduction of a data schema to support a design repository
2008, CAD Computer Aided Design
Citation Excerpt :
Within the UMR repository, similar pieces of design knowledge, such as CAD models and part hierarchies, are stored; however, the main focus is the mapping between functions and components and the compatibility of components to connect together as a system. Regli [12], in partnership with NIST and the National Science Foundation (NSF), has also developed a CAD-based design repository. The focus of Regli’s work includes collaboration in the field of CAD, engineering design, manufacturing process planning, and feature recognition.
This paper presents the data schema required to capture fundamental elements of design information in a heterogeneous repository supporting design reuse. Design information captured by the repository can be divided into seven main categories of artifact-, function-, failure-, physical-, performance-, sensory- and media-related information types. Each of the seven types of design information is described in detail. The repository schema is specific to a relational database system driving the implemented design repository; however, the types of design information recorded are applicable to any implementation of a design repository. The aim of this paper is to fully describe the data schema such that it could be recreated or specialized for industrial or research applications. The result is a complete description of fundamental design knowledge to support design reuse and a data schema specification. The data schema has been vetted with the implemented design repository that contains design information for over 100 consumer electro-mechanical products.
A hybrid hint-based and graph-based framework for recognition of interacting milling features
2007, Computers in Industry
Among the existing feature recognition approaches, graph-based and hint-based approaches are more popular. While graph-based algorithms are quite successful in recognizing isolated features, hint based approaches intrinsically show better performance in handling interacting features. In this paper, feature traces as defined by hint based approaches are implemented and represented in concave graph forms helping the recognition of interacting features with less computational effort. The concave graphs are also used to handle curved 2.5D features while many of the previous graph-based approaches have merely dealt with polyhedral features. The method begins by decomposing the part graph to generate a set of concave sub-graphs. A feature is then recognized based on the properties of the whole concave graph or the properties of its nodes. Graph-based approaches are not intrinsically suitable to provide volumetric representation for the features, but the complete boundary information of a feature can be more effectively obtained volumetrically. Therefore, in this research a method to generate feature volumes for the recognized sub-graphs is also proposed. The approach shows better recognition ability than sub-graph isomorphism methods.

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^∗: Current address: Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, Drexel University, 32nd & Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

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Research reportA repository for design, process planning and assembly

Abstract

Computer Aided Design

Artificial Intelligence

Computer aided process planning: the state of the art survey

Int. J. of Prod. Res.

PADL-2: A technical summary

IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. National collaboratories

ICEM PART Reference Manual

Industrial automation systems and integration—product data representation and exchange—part 203: Application protocol: Configuration controlled 3d designs of mechanical parts and assemblies

Technical Report ISO DIS 10303-203:1994(E)

Automated Manufacturability Analysis of Machined Parts

Sharing manufacturing information in virtual enterprises

Computer Science in Manufacturing

Communications of the ACM

Industrial automation systems and integration—parts library—pan 31: Geometric programming interface

The archimedes 2 mechanical assembly planning system

Research report
A repository for design, process planning and assembly