The development of 3D visual simulation tool for machine simulation is a key approach in saving time and reducing cost. It is an important step before a manufacturing operation is performed on a part, as a tool to detect collision and validate the operation results. There are several kinds of manufacturing equipment being used and hence there is a need for the development of a generalized method to visually simulate a variety of machines. This paper presents the research conducted on describing machine configuration in a generic format which not only gives useful information, but can also be used as a tool to generate the parent list and the dependency list, which would aid in the simulation process. This format is also used to describe the type of motion - linear and rotational motion of the machines parts. In this study, a generic movement description file is also presented, which is utilized to compute the machine motion for various axes. This work concentrates on laser deposition in order to demonstrate a manufacturing operation. This 3D simulation tool has been tested on various manufacturing equipment and the results are shown in the paper.
This thesis is composed of two papers. In paper I, a basic version of the algorithm for simulation and generic machine configuration format have been presented. This paper only describes linear motion for machine axes. Paper II discusses in detail about the algorithm, provides results for both translational and rotational motion and enhances the deposition simulation as well as the display scene --Abstract, page iv
