Flexible Automation and Integrated Manufacturing 1998

ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-118-1

INTERNET-BASED CLASSIFICATION OF PARTS FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT WITH PARAMETRIC CAD

DOI: 10.1615/FAIM1998.420
pages 453-463

Resumo

This paper describes an associative classification and coding (C&C) system for furniture parts. Implemented in the Java programming language, the system enables product developers at different sites to collaborate over the internet. The architecture enables engineers at distributed sites to quickly locate and retrieve part family data. Users interact with the system through any Java-enabled web browser. New parts must first be classified and hierarchical levels of detail in the codes are used to lessen the impact of interpretation difficulties that are common with classification codes. Once a part is classified, a ranked list of geometrically similar parts in the database is displayed in decreasing order by degree of similarity. At this stage, the user is hoping to find a common part. Since classification codes do not contain dimension information, it is often difficult to differentiate between geometrically similar parts that may be significantly different in size or scale. To overcome this difficulty, each part number is associated with a parametric CAD model. VRML images of similar parts are displayed in the browser along with a parameterized list of part dimensions and the routing for that part. Application of the system to furniture parts is described.