Domain-specific portal for the precision component and tooling industry in Singapore—needs analysis and a test-bed implementation

This paper presents the observations and implications of Internet-based collaborative design and manufacturing in Singapore for targeted domain-specific areas—more specifically, the die and mould industry. Based on a survey, the issues faced by local companies are summarized and possible solutions are proposed. To promote the use of Internet for collaborative design, manufacturing and business in the local manufacturing industry, a test-bed domain-specific portal has been developed to facilitate collaborations among companies with their customers, suppliers and partners. Various technologies for value-added collaboration services are investigated and developed. These aim to facilitate business collaboration, such as partner selection, order process collaboration and collaborative planning, as well as engineering collaboration, such as collaborative product and tooling design and rapid prototyping over the Internet. The architecture of the e-manufacturing portal is presented and the collaborative technologies are introduced.     

Artificial intelligence based system to improve the inspection of plastic mould surfaces

Plastic industry is today in a constant growth, demanding several products from other segments, which includes the plastic moulds, used mainly in the injection moulding process. This paper presents a methodology for the surface evaluation of plastic moulds, aiming the automation of the polishing surface analysis. Provided that this type of analysis by traditional procedures can be slow and expensive, the development of automatic system could lead to considerable improvements regarding the speed and reliability of information. The starting point of the evaluation procedure is the image generated by the laser light scattered over the sample mould surface that could be captured and analysed by image processing and artificial intelligence techniques. The results showed that the proposed system is able to mapping and classifying several damages over the polished surface and could be an alternative to reduce efficiently the costs and the spending time in mould surface inspection tasks.     

一种基于CORBA/Java的网络智能专家系统

文中介绍了一种利用CORBA/Java相结合技术构建的网络智能专家系统,对它的开发背景、系统结构、开发平台、开发内容进行了阐述,并重点探讨了用CORBA/Java相结合的技术来实现网络智能专家系统的主要方案,主要包括系统的功能模块、知识库的设计、在网络环境下的推理机的设计、对知识库的访问以及系统的实现方法。     

Energy efficiency benchmarking for injection moulding processes

Energy and resource efficiency is becoming an important strategy in manufacturing. In the automotive industry, the assessment of the environmental impact of a product in use-phase is common practice. In contrast, the manufacturing phase often lacks detailed data; potential for improvement gets lost. Analysis and comparative evaluation of how the production factor energy is used in manufacturing can be an impulse for parallel improvements regarding energy, material and process time efficiency. The paper presents a systematic approach to energy efficiency benchmarking in injection moulding, specifically addressing the impact of the mould. A knowledge base serves as a baseline for the process of data collection and evaluation. Additionally, energy efficiency benchmarking of single processes give insight into the effectiveness of improvement measures and allow to identify best practice process and product designs. The concept can be extended to predict energy consumption of production plants. An energy label for moulds is introduced.     

Research on an active knowledge push service based on collaborative intent capture

The quality of a knowledge service influences the quality, efficiency and innovation of product conceptual design. Existing approaches lack intelligence and individuation when providing a knowledge retrieval service via rules and cases. In this paper, we propose a framework of an active knowledge service based on collaborative intent capture to assist product conceptual design. First, a collaborative intent capture model is constructed through the study of the expression and capture of collaborative intent; second, a framework and a process of active knowledge push based on collaborative intent capture are designed after analyzing the method of knowledge resources acquisition based on the constraint satisfaction theory. Finally, match algorithms for text content are studied. Based on the above research achievements, a prototype system of a collaborative design and active knowledge service platform (C-AKSP) has been developed for providing a knowledge service and assisting product conceptual design. An example, the conceptual design of a machine tool spindle system, is used to validate the proposed theories for the model, the framework and the algorithm. As a result, C-AKSP can provide a superior knowledge service that meets the designer's knowledge needs.     

Development of an Internet-enabled interactive fixture design system

Fixture design is a complex and an intuitive process. An efficient fixture design system is essential to cut costs and reduce the product lead-time. In today's manufacturing landscape, various computer-aided systems exist to aid the various stages of manufacturing. A fixture design system should be able to transfer information with the various other systems to bring about a seamless product design and manufacturing environment. A fixture design system should also be portable on different operating platforms. This paper addresses the development of an Internet-enabled interactive fixture design system. The Internet and the use of XML as a file format provide a means for the transfer of information and knowledge between the various computer-aided manufacturing systems. The system has been implemented using Java and is based on a three-tier Thin Client-Fat Server architecture. This ensures the platform independent performance of the system. A locating scheme independent interactive fixture design method has also been developed in this work for detailed fixture design.     

An object-oriented approach to computer-aided design of a plastic injection mould

This paper describes a knowledge-based and object-oriented approach for the design of the feed system for plastic injection moulds. The gating system of a plastic injection mould plays a significant role in producing a quality part. Designing of this gating system entails a great amount of effort from an experienced designer and it is time-consuming. CADFEED (Computer-Aided Design of the FEED system of the plastic injection mould) is developed to accurately and efficiently design the type, location and size of a gating system of a plastic injection mould. This system provides an accurate and fast means of obtaining solutions based on the users' requirements, which are easily handled by the rating algorithm in the system. CADFEED generates acceptable solutions at a lower cost than most traditionally and commercially available analysis packages. This system can be used to verify designs proposed by the design engineers. It can also help novice engineers in the understanding of mould design. Another important feature of CADFEED is that it is a low cost system, which uses AutoCAD and an expert system shell on a personal computer. This feature makes CADFEED easily affordable by small-scale industries.     

基于Pro/ENGINEER的注塑模电极工程图模块设计

针对所开发的注塑模电极CAD系统,利用Pro/E提供的二次开发工具Pro/TOOLKIT和MFC对话框技术,在Visual C++ 6.0编译环境下,对Pro/E的工程图模块进行二次开发,实现了注塑模电极工程图的自动生成,提高了注塑模电极工程图的设计效率。     

Knowledge integration and sharing for collaborative molding product design and process development

This study presents a systematic approach to developing a knowledge integration and sharing mechanism for collaborative molding product design and process development. The proposed approach includes the steps of (i) collaborative molding product design and process development process modeling, (ii) an ontology-based knowledge model establishment, (iii) knowledge integration and sharing system framework design, (iv) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing methods development, and (v) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing mechanism implementation. The mechanism can support collaborative molding product design and process development by providing functions of knowledge integration and sharing. Results of this study facilitate the knowledge integration and sharing of collaborative molding product design and process development to satisfy the product knowledge demands of participants, and thus increase molding product development capability, reduce molding product development cycle time and cost, and ultimately increase molding product marketability.     

基于基类模型模板的自动武器协同设计系统

分析了现代产品协同设计系统功能模型和体系架构,以面向自动武器工程实际应用为目标,设计了统一的协同设计基类三维模型模板及数据关系模式。在此基础上自主开发的自动武器协同辅助设计系统,包括协同行为预测执行分析、自动武器标准模块库管理等功能模块,实现图层级别的协同到模型级别协同的转化。采用面向对象方法对自动武器协同设计开发项目中的应用程序、模型库、建模工具集等集成化,结合CAD软件底层函数的设计与开发技术及提供通用语言接口支持的网络服务技术,为系统的实施提供了可靠的交互支撑环境。     

A distributed and interactive system to integrated design and simulation for collaborative product development

The goal of applying collaborative product development in industry has raised the need to develop software tools supporting system integration and group collaboration. Current methods and tools mainly focus on the collaborative creation of design components and assemblies. However, few of them support the collaborative work in developing simulation models so that proposed design concepts and solutions can be evaluated by integrating expertise from several disciplines. The purpose of this research is to develop a distributed and interactive system on which designers and experts can work together to create, integrate and run simulations for engineering design. To develop such a system, a number of issues, e.g. effectiveness and efficiency of modeling work, the re-use of models, interaction and cooperation, accuracy of simulation, collaborative operation on models, etc., need to be addressed. This paper describes an open architecture to developing simulations for engineering design in a distributed and collaborative environment, identifies a set of key issues raised in this architecture, and presents the techniques employed in our solution.     

A user requirement driven framework for collaborative design knowledge management

In today’s competitive global marketplace and knowledge-based economy, user requirement becomes an important input information for enterprises to develop new product and a critical factor to drive product collaborative design evolution. Meanwhile, there remains no consensus on how best to support knowledge activities and significant challenges to establishing design information management facing to rapid collaborative product development with dynamic user requirement. This paper introduces solutions for designer to deal with dynamic user requirement information through requirement evaluation and prediction method. In this study, we propose a user requirements-oriented knowledge management concept that is based on a four level hierarchy map model with special regard to knowledge collaboration and information communication. Furthermore, a novel distributed concurrent and interactive user requirement database was constructed, and the framework driven by user requirement was put forward to support collaborative design knowledge management. Finally, the service robot design project of a start-up company is used as a case study to explain the implementation of proposed framework.     

Modularized design-oriented systematic inventive thinking approach supporting collaborative service innovations

The rapid evolution of new service systems raises crucial challenges for service design and requires effective methods. This study depicts a conceptual service design framework, called design-oriented systematic inventive thinking (DSIT) approach, which can be applied in different problem contexts. DSIT is presented as a new systematic and collaborative intelligence approach for creating and evaluating complex service systems using multi-criteria data analytics. DSIT synthesizes the current field of TRIZ service-design knowledge system and the emerging area of non-TRIZ service-design knowledge system. DSIT enables integrated development of service offerings at four dimensions and provides the matching integrated service design approach for each dimension. Four types of service design approaches are conceptualized as “human-independent service engineering,” “problem-clarified service engineering,” “solution-converged service engineering,” and “designing for service.” A new service computer-aided design system (service CAD) named DSIT explorer is developed consisting of customization, compatibility, and extensiveness of DSIT modules. A pervasive and smart collaborative service system (i.e., the smart MOS burger service solution) designed using DSIT explorer is illustrated. DSIT is a holistic, interdisciplinary, and collaborative service design concept, which is incorporated into a collaborative and intelligent service CAD framework to enable systematic inventive thinking throughout phases of service design lifecycle from problem definition, problem resolution, to solution evaluation.     

Characterization of 3D shape parts for semantic annotation

3D content stored in big databases or shared on the Internet is a precious resource for several applications, but unfortunately it risks being underexploited due to the difficulty of retrieving it efficiently. In this paper we describe a system called the “ShapeAnnotator” through which it is possible to perform non-trivial segmentations of 3D surface meshes and annotate the detected parts through concepts expressed by an ontology. Each part is connected to an instance that can be stored in a knowledge base to ease the retrieval process based on semantics. Through an intuitive interface, users create such instances by simply selecting proper classes in the ontology; attributes and relations with other instances can be computed automatically based on a customizable analysis of the underlying topology and geometry of the parts. We show how our part-based annotation framework can be used in two scenarios, namely for the creation of avatars in emerging Internet-based virtual worlds, and for product design in e-manufacturing.     

Collboard: Fostering new media literacies in the classroom through collaborative problem solving supported by digital pens and interactive whiteboards

Education systems worldwide must strive to support the teaching of a set of New Media Literacies (NMLs). These literacies respond to the need for educating human capital within participatory cultures in a highly technologized world. In this paper, we present Collboard, a constructivist problem solving activity for fostering the development of specific NMLs in classrooms: collective intelligence, distributed cognition and transmedia navigation. Collboard encompasses successive individual and collaborative work phases that prompt active student participation and engagement. It integrates digitally augmented appliances, namely, digital pens as a means to support individual work, and interactive whiteboards as a collaborative knowledge construction space. We report on the conceptual design of Collboard, its different technological and software components, as well as our findings from experiences we conducted in a Swedish school with 12 students from a 7th grade maths class. Findings from the experience provide an indication that Collboard can be well integrated in classroom teaching, and that it can foster the development of collective intelligence, distributed cognition and transmedia navigation in different knowledge domains.     

基于综合集成法的复杂产品协同设计过程模型及框架研究

建立过程模型及框架,将设计过程有效地表达出来,是协同设计的基础。 论文针对复杂产品设计过程的特征,根据综合集成法,建立了一个以时间、粒度、并行度三 维分布的多层次复杂产品协同设计过程模型。该过程模型在时间维强调多阶段综合,在并行 度维强调多专业综合,在粒度维强调分解与综合的迭代。在该过程模型基础上,结合专家体 系、知识体系、机器体系,提出基于综合集成法的复杂产品协同设计过程框架。该框架中, 机器体系依靠知识体系中的知识,给专家群体提供帮助,专家群体在机器体系提供的项目管 理、群体研讨、协同决策、三维可视化等支持工具帮助下,实现人机结合、多专业结合、多 阶段结合的协同设计过程,以提高复杂产品的协同设计效率。最后介绍了相关原型系统。     

基于模型检索的玻璃瓶模具组件设计方法与实现

在分析玻璃瓶罐产品结构与企业模具设计标准的基础上,在 NX 环境下提出基于 模型检索的玻璃瓶模具组件设计方法。采用极半径不变矩的图像识别算法进行特征识别,以瓶 罐产品信息作为侧向索引,构建了包含玻璃瓶模型特征以其对应模具组件方案的实例库。在实 例库中对相似模型进行检索与匹配,再以系统知识库中的专家知识与经验对匹配成功的相关组 件进行设计。以 400 ml 广口瓶的初型模和成型模设计案例验证了该设计方法的可行性。     

Preliminary design and manufacturing planning integration using web-based intelligent agents

Software agents have been increasingly used in the product and process development in industry over the past years due to the rapid evolvement of the Internet technology. This paper describes agents for the integration of conceptual design and process planning. Agents provide mechanisms to interact with each other. This mechanism is important since both of those processes involve negotiations for optimization. A set of design and planning software agents has been developed. These agents are used in a computer-based collaborative environment, called a multi-agent platform. The main purpose of developing such a platform is to support product preliminary design, optimize product form and structure, and reduce the manufacturing cost in the early design stage. The agents on the platform have access to a knowledge base that contains design and planning rules. These rules are derived from an analysis of design factors that influence process and resource planning, such as product material, form, shape complexity, features, dimension, tolerance, surface condition, production volume, and production rate. These rules are used by process planning agents to provide process planners with information regarding selecting preliminary manufacturing processes, determining manufacturing resources, and constructing feedback information to product designers. Additionally, the agents communicate with WEB servers, and they are accessible by users through Internet browsers. During performing design and planning tasks, agents access the data pertinent to design and manufacturing processes by the programming interfaces of existing computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing system. The agents are supported by a developed prototype agent platform. The agents and the platform enable the information exchange among agents, based on a previously developed integrated design and manufacturing process object model.     

Design of experiments for the qualification of EVA expansion characteristics

Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is a highly utilised material for the manufacture of shoe soles and mid-soles due to its comfort, durability and UV stability. It is also used extensively for exercise mats, wall insulation and sports protection padding. The material can be manufactured into sheets by compression moulding or injection-moulding processes. This paper is concerned with research to gain knowledge of the behaviour of EVA during the injection moulding of shoe soles and shoe mid-soles. Though there is significant experience with the general use of EVA during the injection-moulding process this knowledge has been gained through years of experience and moulds are designed by a combination of the producer's knowledge and trial and error. With the increase in demand for customisation of mass-produced products a method for automating the design of moulds for expanding EVA products is highly desirable. When mixed with a suitable blowing agent, EVA has the remarkable ability to expand between 30% and 90% compared to the injection mould size, depending on the amount of blowing agent added. However, EVA does not expand uniformly and currently there is no precise method of predicting the expansion of components with variable thickness. This paper presents a methodology for determining the expansion characteristics of EVA coupled with results relating to the initial findings for material expansion to enable the design of a method for automatically generating mould cavity geometry.     

A CAE-integrated distributed collaborative design system for finite element analysis of complex product based on SOOA

Large-scale finite element analysis of complex product needs a wider support from external CAE resources. This paper proposes a method of the distributed concurrent and collaborative design in the distributed intelligent resources environment to use Web-based extended manufacturing resources for product development. The CAE-integrated distributed collaborative design system architecture and enabling techniques are presented. Distributed CAE service resources on the Internet are achieved through Jini^TM and service object-oriented architecture technologies. These CAE software tool resources are encapsulated as service providers in the system. A case study of railway bogie development is presented, and the Pro/E, HyperMesh, Ansys and HumanExpert service providers dynamically invoked and integrated as a temporary service federated environment with no need to know the exact location of a provider beforehand, flexibility can be well achieved, and collaborative design in the system can be implemented in the distributed dynamic environment. Compared with the traditional design system, some preliminary results indicate this architecture can shorten the cycle of service exchange, and strongly support concurrent and collaborative design of the complex product.