Determining Interference Between Parts in CAD STEP Files for Automatic Assembly Planning

In this paper, a neutral file format—STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product model data) is used to transfer geometrical data from CAD tools to assembly analysis tools. JSDAI (Standard Data Access Interface for STEP binding to JAVA) is used to read geometrical data from the CAD STEP files. After all necessary geometrical data is extracted from the CAD STEP files, the interference relationships between parts are analyzed. The methods developed for using JSDAI to extract geometrical data from CAD STEP files and for determining interference relationships between parts in the assemblies are introduced.