A framework of knowledge-based assembly planning

A framework of knowledge-based assembly planning for the automatic generation of assembly plans from the CAD model of an assembly is presented. The knowledge about assembly structure, precedence constraints, and resource constraints is represented using predicate calculus, and it forms the static knowledge database. Production rules are used to generate assembly plans. A graph search mechanism is used to search for the optimal assembly plan. To test the proposed approach, a prototype system has been developed. It can read in the CAD data of a product and the resource information of an assembly cell and automatically generate an optimal assembly plan based on the selection criteria specified by the user of the system.>