The goal of this project is to study the feasibility of developing a product modeling system that provides information for process planning, including machining planning and assembly planning. To accomplish this, ongoing research will be extended on an assembly oriented product modeler. The intentions of the designer, with respect to manufacturing a given product, will be propagated from the modeler to the process planning system. The modeler will allow manufacturing process information (i.e. tolerance and surface finish specifications, spatial relationships, feasible approach directions, precedence constraints, part and feature symmetry, etc.) to be extracted, or generated, at the design stage. This research will focus on the development of a spatial; relationship based modeling system supporting the generation of dimensions and tolerances. This work will eventually produce a stand-alone design system for mechanical components with the above capabilities, and possessing its own on-board graphics capabilities.
