APPROXIMATING GEOMETRIC DESIGNS WITH SIMPLE MATERIAL REMOVAL PROCESSES AND CAD/CAM TOOLS

摘要

This paper addresses the question of what geometric objects can be designed and manufactured with a CAD/CAM system and especially what geometric objects can be approximated by those produced with a CAD/CAM system. For a class of simple material removal processes (cut and discard finitely many times), the answer is that all closed convex subsets of the work-piece can be approximated, in a sense that is related to tolerances. Implications for cost functions and for incremental design and manufacture are discussed.