1,033 research outputs found

    Functional requirements to shape generation in CAD

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    Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, June 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121).An outstanding issue in computer-aided design (CAD) is the creation of geometric shapes from the description of functional requirements (FRs). This thesis presents a method that can generate assembled shapes from the given FRs without human intervention. To achieve this goal, the design process follows a V-model of decomposition and integration based on axiomatic design. The V-model consists of three main sub-processes; (1) a top-down decomposition of FRs and design parameters (DPs), (2) mapping of DPs into geometric entities, and (3) a bottom-up integration of the geometric entities. A shape decomposition technique is used in the V-model to generate solid cells from the geometric entities in the CAD models based on FRs. These cells are stored and reused during the integration process. A set of cells mapped to an FR is called a functional geometric feature (FGF) to differentiate it from geometric features defined by only geometric characteristics. Each FGF has mating faces as its pre-defined interfaces. Links of FR-DP-FGF-INTERFACES and their hierarchies are made and stored in the database as fundamental units for automatic assembled shape generation. The retrieval of proper FGF from the database is performed by matching a query FR with stored FRs by a lexical search based on the frequency of words and the sequence of the words in the FR statements using a synonym checking system. The language-matching rate is calculated as a value of FRmetric between 0 and 1. A computer algorithm automatically combines and assembles the retrieved FGFs. Genetic algorithm (GA) searches for the best combination for matching interface types and generates assembly sequences.(cont.) From the highest-valued chromosome, the computer algorithm automatically assembles FGFs by coordinating, orienting, and positioning with reference to the given mating conditions and calculates geometric interface-ability to a value of INTERFACEmetric between 0 and 1. The higher the values of FRmetric and INTERFACEmetric, the better the generated design solution for the given FRs that must be satisfied. The process of top-down decomposition and bottom-up integration reduces the number of possible combinations of interfacing FGFs. Design matrix visually relates FRs to FGFs. The method presented in this thesis has demonstrated that a "functional CAD" can aid designers in generating conceptual design solutions from functional descriptions, in reusing existing CAD models, and in creating new designs.by Jinpyung Chung.Ph.D

    CAFixD: A Case-based Reasoning Method for Fixture Design

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    Fixtures accurately locate and secure a part during machining operations such that the part can be manufactured to design specifications. To reduce the design costs associated with fixturing, various computer-aided fixture design (CAFD) methods have been developed through the years to assist the fixture designer. Much research has been directed towards developing systems that determine an optimal fixture plan layout, but there is still a need to develop a CAFD method that can continue to assist designers at the unit level where the key task is identifying the appropriate structure that the individual units comprising a fixture should take. This research work details the development of a CAFD methodology (called CAFixD) that seeks to fill this hole in the CAFD field. The approach taken is to consider all operational requirements of a fixture problem, and use them to guide the design of a fixture at the unit level. Based upon a case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology where relevant design experience is retrieved and adapted to provide a new fixture design solution, the CAFixD methodology adopts a rigorous approach to indexing design cases in which axiomatic design functional requirement decomposition is adopted. Thus, the design requirement is decomposed in terms of functional requirements, physical solutions are retrieved and adapted for each individual requirement, and the design re-constituted to form a complete fixture design. Case adaptation knowledge is used to guide the retrieval process. Possible adaptation strategies for modifying candidate cases are identified and then evaluated. Case and adaptation strategy combinations that result in adapted designs that best satisfy the preferences of the designer are used as the final design solutions. Possible means of refining the effectiveness of the method include combining adaptation strategies and considering the order in which design decisions are taken

    Modelling, Control and Optimization of Modular Reconfigurable Robots

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    Modular reconfigurable robots are robotic systems offering new opportunities to rapidly create fit-to-task flexible automation lines. The recent trends of increasingly varying market needs in low-volume high-mix manufacturing demands for highly adaptable robotic systems like this. In this context, methods for quickly and automatically generating a modular robot model and controller should be developed. Moreover, modularity and reconfigurabilty open up new opportunities for on-demand robot morphology optimization for varying tasks. Therefore a method to optimize the robot design for a certain criterion should be provided in order to exploit the full potential of reconfigurable robots. In this thesis, a complete hard- and software architecture for a modular reconfigurable EtherCAT-based robot is presented. This novel approach allows to automatically reconstruct the topology of different robot structures, composed of a set of body modules, each of which represents an EtherCAT slave. This approach enables to obtain in an automatic way the kinematic and dynamic model of the robot and store it in URDF format as soon as the physical robot is assembled or reconfigured. The method also automatically reshapes a generic optimization-based controller to be instantly used after reconfiguration. Finally, a study and analysis on how to find the best suited reconfigurable robot morphology for a given task are presented, starting from a fixed set of joint and link modules. In particular, is shown how exploiting multi-arm robotic systems and modifying the relative and absolute positions of their bases, can expand the solution space for a given task. Results obtained in simulations for different tasks, are verified with real-world experiments using a in-house developed reconfigurable robot prototype

    Co-evolution in Manufacturing Systems Inspired by Biological Analogy

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    The artificial world experiences continuous changes that result in the evolution of design features of products and the capabilities of the corresponding manufacturing systems similar to the changes of species in the natural world. The idea of simulating the artificial world, based on the analogy between the symbiotic behaviour of products and manufacturing systems and the biological co-evolution of different species in nature, is expressed by a model and novel hypotheses regarding manufacturing co-evolution mechanism, preserving that co-evolution and using it for future planning and prediction. Biological analogy is also employed to drive the mathematical formulation of the model and its algorithms. Cladistics, a biological classification tool, is adapted and used to realize evolution trends of products and systems and their symbiosis was illustrated using another biological tool, tree reconciliation. A new mathematical method was developed to realize the co-development relationships between product features and manufacturing capabilities. It has been used for synthesizing / predicting new species of systems and products. The developed model was validated using machining and assembly case studies. Results have proven the proposed hypotheses, demonstrated the presence of manufacturing symbiosis and made predictions and synthesized new systems and products. The model has been also adapted for use in different applications such as; system layout design, identifying sustainable design features and products family redesign to promote modularity. The co-evolution model is significant as it closes the loop connecting products and systems to learn from their shared past development and predict their intertwined future, unlike available unidirectional design strategies. The economic life of manufacturing systems can be extended by better utilizing their available capabilities, since the co-evolution model directs products - systems development towards reaching a perfect co-evolution state. This research presents original ideas expressed by innovative co-evolution hypotheses in manufacturing, new mathematical model and algorithms, and demonstrates its advantages and benefits in a wide range of applications

    A systematic design recovery framework for mechanical components.

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    Product modularity : a multi-objective configuration approach

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    Product modularity is often seen as a means by which a product system can be decomposed into smaller, more manageable chunks in order to better manage design, manufacturing and after-sales complexity. The most common approach is to decompose the product down to component level and then group the components to form modules. The rationale for module grouping can vary, from the more technical physical and functional component interactions, to any number of strategic objectives such as variety, maintenance and recycling. The problem lies with the complexity of product modularity under these multiple (often conflicting) objectives. The research in this thesis presents a holistic multi-objective computer aided modularity optimisation (CAMO) framework. The framework consists of four main steps: 1) product decomposition; 2) interaction analysis; 3) formation of modular architectures and; 4) scenario analysis. In summary of these steps: the product is first decomposed into a number a basic components by analysis of both the physical and functional product domains. The various dependencies and strategic similarities that occur between the product s components are then analysed and entered into a number of interaction matrixes. A specially developed multi-objective grouping genetic algorithm (MOGGA) then searches the matrices and provides a whole set of alternative (yet optimal) modular product configurations. The solution set is then evaluated and explored (scenario analysis) using the principles of Analytic Hierarchy Process. A software prototype has been created for the CAMO framework using Visual Basic to create a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) based optimiser within an excel environment. A case study has been followed to demonstrate the various steps of the framework and make comparisons with previous works. Unlike previous works, that have used simplistic optimisation algorithms and have in general only considered a limited number of modularisation objectives, the developed framework provides a true multi-objective approach to the product modularisation problem.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

    Engineering Innovation (TRIZ based Computer Aided Innovation)

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    This thesis describes the approach and results of the research to create a TRIZ based computer aided innovation tools (AEGIS and Design for Wow). This research has mainly been based around two tools created under this research: called AEGIS (Accelerated Evolutionary Graphics Interface System), and Design for Wow. Both of these tools are discussed in this thesis in detail, along with the test data, design methodology, test cases, and research. Design for Wow (http://www.designforwow.com) is an attempt to summarize the successful inventions/ designs from all over the world on a web portal which has multiple capabilities. These designs/innovations are then linked to the TRIZ Principles in order to determine whether innovative aspects of these successful innovations are fully covered by the forty TRIZ principles. In Design for Wow, a framework is created which is implemented through a review tool. The Design for Wow website includes this tool which has been used by researcher and the users of the site and reviewers to analyse the uploaded data in terms of strength of TRIZ Principles linked to them. AEGIS (Accelerated Evolutionary Graphics Interface System) is a software tool developed under this research aimed to help the graphic designers to make innovative graphic designs. Again it uses the forty TRIZ Principles as a set of guiding rules in the software. AEGIS creates graphic design prototypes according to the user input and uses TRIZ Principles framework as a guide to generate innovative graphic design samples. The AEGIS tool created is based on TRIZ Principles discussed in Chapter 3 (a subset of them). In AEGIS, the TRIZ Principles are used to create innovative graphic design effects. The literature review on innovative graphic design (in chapter 3) has been analysed for links with TRIZ Principles and then the DNA of AEGIS has been built on the basis of this study. Results from various surveys/ questionnaires indicated were used to collect the innovative graphic design samples and then TRIZ was mapped to it (see section 3.2). The TRIZ effects were mapped to the basic graphic design elements and the anatomy of the graphic design letters was studied to analyse the TRIZ effects in the collected samples. This study was used to build the TRIZ based AEGIS tool. Hence, AEGIS tool applies the innovative effects using TRIZ to basic graphic design elements (as described in section 3.3). the working of AEGIS is designed based on Genetic Algorithms coded specifically to implement TRIZ Principles specialized for Graphic Design, chapter 4 discusses the process followed to apply TRIZ Principles to graphic design and coding them using Genetic Algorithms, hence resulting in AEGIS tool. Similarly, in Design for Wow, the content uploaded has been analysed for its link with TRIZ Principles (see section 3.1 for TRIZ Principles). The tool created in Design for Wow is based on the framework of analysing the TRIZ links in the uploaded content. The ‘Wow’ concept discussed in the section 5.1 and 5.2 is the basis of the concept of Design for Wow website, whereby the users upload the content they classify as ‘Wow’. This content then is further analysed for the ‘Wow factor’ and then mapped to TRIZ Principles as TRIZ tagging methodology is framed (section 5.5). From the results of the research, it appears that the TRIZ Principles are a comprehensive set of innovation basic building blocks. Some surveys suggest that amongst other tools, TRIZ Principles were the first choice and used most .They have thus the potential of being used in other innovation domains, to help in their analysis, understanding and potential development.Great Western Research and Systematic Innovation Ltd U

    Toward a methodology of structuring the interactions dynamic within the Multi-Domains and Multi-Views design model (Application to the design of modular product families)

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    Dans le contexte économique actuel, il faut proposer des produits personnalisés dequalité, à faible coût et dans des délais de plus en plus courts. La société MABI a choisi devoir chacune de ces contraintes comme une opportunité de repenser ses produits en misantsur l innovation. Il faut alors optimiser certaines tâches routinières d ingénierie afin dedégager du temps pour la conception des nouveaux produits. Le travail de recherche réalisés inscrit dans le cadre d une thèse en convention CIFRE en partenariat entre la société MABIet le laboratoire IRTES-M3M de l UTBM. MABI conçoit, assemble, commercialise et assurele service après-vente de produits propres dans le domaine de la protection et la rénovationdes bâtiments. Ses besoins d amélioration concernent le processus de développement deproduits qui doivent répondre aux besoins des clients tout en respectant des contraintesd assemblage spécifiques à l entreprise. La finalité industrielle de la thèse consiste à décliner au niveau du domaine du Produit , la méthodologie générique élaborée sur la base de notre travail de recherchescientifique. A ce niveau, notre problématique scientifique consiste à rendre opérationnel etdynamique le modèle Multi-Domaines et Multi-Vues (MD-MV), structuré de manière plutôtstatique , en y apportant des éléments de raisonnement contribuant à créer des interactionsinter-domaines et inter-points de vue. Pour ce qui est du domaine du Produit , il endécoule la méthodologie FARD (Functional And Robust Design) qui vise à concevoir et àgénérer rapidement l ensemble des variantes de produits d une même famille modulaire touten assurant le respect des besoins clients (conception fonctionnelle) et des contraintesd assemblage à travers une aide à la décision pour le choix de la séquence d assemblage,contribuant ainsi à créer une interaction dynamique avec le domaine du Process . Quatrethèmes de recherche sont abordés : la modularité, la conception fonctionnelle, la conceptionpour l assemblage (dès les phases amont du processus de conception) et la simulation(accélérée grâce au paramétrage du maillage). Habituellement, le domaine de la modularitéest souvent associé à celui de la conception fonctionnelle ou encore à celui de la conceptionpour l assemblage, mais rarement les trois ensemble, ce qui constitue la spécificité de nostravaux. Enfin, l aspect paramétrique de la méthodologie FARD, à travers les liens établisentre les quatre thèmes de recherche évoqués précédemment, rend possible la générationrapide des produits d une même famille à partir d un produit générique et ainsi de gagner dutemps de conception, en vue d atteindre nos objectifs de conception routinière HautementProductive . Trois cas d études industriels et académiques illustrent l application et lafaisabilité la méthodologie FARD...In current economic context, enterprises must provide quality custom products at alower cost and a shorter delay. MABI Company chose to consider these constraints as anopportunity to rethink its products through innovation. Then certain routine tasks must beoptimized to free up time in order to have more time to innovate and design new products.This thesis is part of a CIFRE partnership between the MABI Company and the IRTES-M3Mlaboratory at UTBM. MABI designs, assembles, sells and provides after-sales service ofproducts in the field of the protection and the renovation of buildings. MABI needs ofimprovement are in the development process of its products that must meet customer needs,while respecting its assembly constraints.The industrial purpose of the thesis is to decline in the Product domain, the genericmethodology developed on the basis of our scientific research work. At this level, ourscientific problematic is to make operational and dynamic the Multi-Domains and Multi-Viewsdesign model (MD-MV), structured in a "rather static" way, and to enriched these models byadding reasoning procedures. It follows the FARD methodology (Functional And RobustDesign) which aims to design and quickly generate variants of a modular product family whileensuring compliance with customer requirements (functional design) and assemblyconstraints. Four domains are covered: modularity, functional design, design for assembly (atthe early stages of the design process) and simulation (accelerated through theparameterisation of the mesh). Usually the domain of modularity is often associated withfunctional design or with the design for assembly, but rarely the three together, thatconstitutes one of our added values. Finally, the parametric aspect of the FARDmethodology, that is the link between the four domains, allows accelerated the generation ofproducts of the same family from a generic product and thus saving design time to achieveour goal of "High Productive" routine design. Three industrial and academic case studiesillustrate the application and the feasibility of the FARD methodology...BELFORT-UTBM-SEVENANS (900942101) / SudocSudocFranceF
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