Concurrent Design and Process Planning for Rapic Production of Custom Design Parts using Knowledge Based Engineering

Custom design parts for sophisticated Air Force weapon systems are produced in small batches, where the design and plan process account for a large percentage of the development and production time. The production cost per part is higher for single or batch production when compared to mass production. In batch production, the machining time does not account for a large percentage of the total time for designing, planning, and production. Therefore, for cost optimization, it is more important to cut down the planning time by quickly generating a feasible process plan rather that the lengthy generation of an optimized plan. The emphasis is on short turnaround time for immediate prototyping. For mass production it is important to optimize the process plan to minimize the machining time. The proposal objectives are to automate the design and manufacture plan of custom parts by developing a concurrent engineering system with geometrical reasoning engine, for integrated design, part specifications, and process planning. In Phase I, the architectures of the system will be completed. A limited prototyping system will be developed. In Phase II, the system development will be completed and tested in real production. Also, a plan to commercialize the system will be prepared.