INTEGRATION OF EXPERT SYSTEM FOR PROCESS PLANNING AND FEATURE BASED DESIGNS

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/EXPERT SYSTEM TECHNIQUES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO ADDRESS COMPLEX REASONING TASKS REQUIRED FOR PROCESS PLANNING. FEATURE-BASED DESIGN THEORY AND PRELIMINARY EFFORTS HAVE SHOWN THE POTENTIAL OF PROVIDING A FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR CAPTURE AND MANIPULATION OF DESIGN KNOWLEDGE. HOWEVER, THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES HAVE NOT BEEN SUFFICIENTLY INTEGRATED TO ALLOW DESIGN FEATURES TO AUTOMATICALLY INFLUENCE PROCESS PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES RESEARCH EFFORT TO IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE INNOVATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/EXPERT SYSTEM TECHNIQUES WHICH INTEGRATE FEATURE-BASED DESIGN AND PROCESS PLANNING TECHNOLOGIES. THE THRUST OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT WILL THEN BE TO RESEARCH STATE-OF-THE-ART IN ALL THE COMPONENTS NEEDED FOR THE INTEGRATION OF EXPERT SYSTEMS, PROCESS PLANNING AND FEATURE-BASED DESIGNS. IT WILL ALSO DEVELOP THE ARCHITECTURE OF A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SYSTEM. THIS RESEARCH EFFORT REPRESENTS THE TECHNICAL BASELINE FOR A FULL SCALE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTELLIGENT FEATURE-BASED PROCESS PLANNING SYSTEM. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THIS RESEARCH PROJECT ATTACKS THE LACK OF APPROPRIATE PROCESS PLANNING TOOLS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. CONSEQUENTLY, ANY INDUSTRY ENGAGED IN CONCEPT ENGINEERING CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS PROJECT REGARDLESS OF INDUSTRY SEGMENT OR COMPANY SIZE.