Application of the simultaneous engineering concept to the development of a co-operative fixture design system

This paper reports the development of an Al-based approach for integration and collaboration of diverse expertise in fixture design and analysis. The preliminary work that proposes a co-operative fixture design system in order to achieve the automation of fixture design process, is described in the paper. A blackboard based framework, capable of integrating diverse knowledge sources, is used as the problem-solving model to realize such a system. A working prototype along with its implementation strategies is illustrated to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed system.