Abstract
Issues related to modular fixture design, including product modeling, design synthesis, numerical analysis, and geometric reasoning, are discussed in this paper. An automated fixture design (AFD) system is developed in an object-oriented programming (OOP) environment. The AFD system proposes a preliminary fixturing configuration by synthesizing the fixture design issues and reasoning about the necessary knowledge bases. The system is coupled with external numerical tools to carry out deformation analysis, and redesign of the preliminary fixturing configuration, if necessary. The paper also addresses several implementational issues of a prototype AFD system.
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