A number of advantages can be attributed to the use of an agent based CAM system. Enabling the system to be STEP compliant makes it easier to transfer data from different systems. This is of the utmost importance, as it is intended for this system to work on a wide area network (i.e. the web.) The advantages of the AB-CAM system are: Information models do not have to be local. The agent relocates to the required information model on the network, thus reducing network traffic Errors due to network failures are reduced The agent can interface with customer and supplier databases without exposing confidential information. Connection can be made via the Internet. Standard features can he used to minimise computation of new features Company specific features can be added to the feature library The CAM process can occur concurrently with the design process There are some initial concerns in the sheer quantity of agents that would be required during the early stages of implementing this system because of the way an agent is attributed to a feature. The system would need to be purged with some standard feature information to reduce this problem. The need for processing of new features will reduce as the system is used, creating and storing features in its feature library. The AB-CAM system has the ability to interface with a human operator for special requirements, or to amend plans and update the system with local working practices. This ability to interface with humans provides the system with three operating modes: automatic, semi-automatic and manual. Thus providing the flexibility to manufacture parts automatically if all manufacturing data is known to manually generating tool paths when new or specialised NC machining is required.
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