AN AUTOMATED NESTING SYSTEM WHICH PROVIDES A NEAR-OPTIMAL SOLUTION

A NESTING SYSTEM IS A PROCESS BY WHICH ONE OR MORE PATTERNS ARE LAID OUT ON A FLAT MATERIAL. MOST EXISTING NESTING SYSTEMS ATTEMPT TO MAXIMIZE MATERIALS USAGE BY RELYING ON TRIAL AND ERROR, HUMAN JUDGMENT, AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE. SOMEOF THE FEW EXISTING NESTING SYSTEMS ARE SEMI-AUTOMATED; NONEARE FULLY AUTOMATED AND ALL HAVE TO USE REGULARLY-SHAPED MATERIAL. NESTING TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATES INC. (NTAI) PROPOSES AN AUTOMATED SOFTWARE SYSTEM WHICH WILL CREATE AN EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE PATTERN FOR LAYING OUT SHAPES ON A FLAT MATERIAL. THROUGH EXPANDING THE ALGORITHM, THE RESEARCHERS WILL EVALUATE AND REFINE THEIR ABILITY TO FIND A NEAR-OPTIMAL LAYOUT FOR (1) MANY OR FEW IDENTICAL SHAPES; AND (2) NUMEROUS, DISSIMILAR SHAPES ON BOTH REGULARLY AND IRREGULARLY-SHAPED STOCK. THE SYSTEM WILL, IN MOST CASES, ACHIEVE A NEAR-OPTIMAL LAYOUT WITH CLOSE TO MAXIMUM MATERIALS UTILIZATION AT SPEEDS MUCH FASTER THAN EXISTING METHODS. THE SYSTEM WILL REDUCE SUCCESSIVE ITERATIONS BETWEEN DESIGN-ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING.