The development of generic algorithm to bridge CAD and CAPP

Abstract

In common design practices, a finished design is thrown to the shop-floor and some analyzes have to be done to determine which machining feature must be processed first and which one must be later. Furthermore one also should consider about the set-up number and the tool approaching direction to process the whole features. This way of machining the product leads to ineffective jobs and wasting a lot of time. A prospective way to work out the machining on a product in a more effective way is by giving the product (the design) an autonomy to determine their best processing sequence, the minimum number of set-up, direction of tool to machine the feature, the feature interaction when there available plenty of features and even the G-code related to corresponding features. This kind of intelligent product can further be embedded to what is called Autonomous Distributed Manufacturing System (ADiMS). This system is equipped with autonomy for every production element comprising this system. Besides autonomy, this production system can also distribute all tasks to the production elements and this becomes one of the system characteristics. This research presents an object-oriented feature-based design system which can be used to bridge the CAD system and CAPP domain. Therefore, a model is required to translate the real situation of a production system into a logical model in the computer system. Modeling method used in this research is object oriented programming method.