PODS

Process Open Description System (PODS) will allow designers to discover new processes and CAD tools to import, dynamically, design rules that will constrain design options to those consistent with the process being explored. PODS agents will exchange process geometry and material features between agents. Simulation code will be imported with Java applets or similar HTTP-based facilities to allow evaluation not possible with only geometry features. The initial target is the Shape Deposition process being developed at Stanford's Rapid Prototyping Laboratory headed by Prof. Fritz Prinz. PODS will consist of the following components:

• A manufacturing process agent that encapsulates a set of ontologies and simulations useful for describing a process. The initial target is the Shape Deposition process being developed at Stanford's Rapid Prototyping Laboratory.

• A process broker agent that, given a set of feature requirements, locates appropriate candidate process agents and communicates the required information.

  A "front end" design agent for a given CAD system that communicates with process brokers and imports feature constraints into the CAD system to facilitate evaluation of the process.

• An Agent Process Communication Language (APC) sufficient for communication between the agents to allow designers to discover new processes and CAD tools to import, dynamically, design rules that will constrain design options to those consistent with the process being explored. PODS agents will exchange process geometry and material features.

The design process

Once a manufacturing process has been selected, features specific to the manufacturing process are being imported into the native CAD environment as STEP-files. The designer uses these features to do his design. During the design the design agent documents the activities to the manufacturing agent as high-level abstract information. According to this information an expert shell running on the manufacturing agent side does the constraint checking, makes functions calls to the CAD program in order to evaluate the geometry and informs the designer about constraint violations. A prototype for this design process has been created based on Pro/Engineer and the Cybercut milling process located at the Integrated Manufacturing Lab at UC Berkeley.

This work is part of the Rapid Design through Virtual and Physical Prototyping project.