KNOWLEDGE-BASED ASSISTANCE FOR THE CONTROL AND USE OF MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS EMPLOY A LARGE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE IN DESIGNING AND MANUFACTURING A PRODUCT. THE TOTAL KNOWLEDGE INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS IS: -DISTRIBUTED IN DIVERSE ELEMENTS SUCH AS TRADITIONAL SOFTWARE TOOLS, EXPERT SYSTEM TOOLS, DATABASES, MANUALS, AND EXPERT PROJECT MEMBERS, -INHOMOGENEOUS IN NATURE, RANGING FROM DESCRIPTIVE TO PRESCRIPTIVE, MANAGERIAL TO TECHNICAL, AND SHALLOW TO DEEP. CONSEQUENTLY, THE APPLICATION OF THIS KNOWLEDGE IS VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO DIFFERENT AND INACCURATE INTERPRETATIONS BY DIFFERENT ENGINEERS AND POSES A SERIOUS PRODUCTIVITY PROBLEM. WE PROPOSE TO DESIGN A COMPUTER-BASED, LIFE-CYCLE USER ASSISTANT WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: -INTERVENES BETWEEN THE USER, TOOLS AND DATABASES AND UNDERSTANDS HOW TO ASSIST THE USER IN FOLLOWING A LIFECYCLE METHOD FOR DESIGN-IN-THE-LARGE, -BRINGS TO THE USER'S ATTENTION THE APPLICABLE MANUFACTURABILITY CONSTRAINTS, -EXPLOITS AND ENGINEERS THE OF USE TECHNIQUES FOR ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE, DATA BASES AND OPERATING SYSTEMS, -HARNESS AVAILABLE SOFTWARE DEVELOPED UNDER THE IISS PROGRAM, AND -FACILITATES LIFE-CYCLE SUPPORT FOR MANUFACTURING DOMAINS SUCH AS FORGING, EXTRUSION, ETC. THE DELIVERABLES OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT ARE 1) AN ARCHITECTURE OF THE KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION SHELL (KI-SHELL) BASED ON IISS SOFTWARE AND 2) A PLAN TO BRING UP A KNOWLEDGE-BASEDASSISTANT FOR THE SPECIFIC TEST-BED DOMAIN OF DIE DESIGN FOR METAL EXTRUSION.