XCUT: A Rule-Based Expert System for the Automated Process Planning of Machined Parts

摘要

Automated process planning is becoming a popular research and development topic in engineering and applied artificial intelligence. It is generally defined as the automatic planning of the manufacturing procedures for producing a part from a CAD based product definition. An automated process planning system, XCUT, is currently being developed using rule-based expert system techniques. XCUT will generate process plans for the production of machined piece-parts, given a geometric description of a part's features. The system currently is focused on operation planning for prismatic parts on multi-axis CNC milling machines. To date, moderately complex 2-1/2D prismatic parts have successfully been planned for with approximately 300 rules in the knowledge base. This paper will describe the XCUT system, system architecture, knowledge representation, plan development sequence, and issues in applying expert system technology to automated process planning. 16 refs. (ERA citation 13:005323)