Research on Flexible Transfer Line Schematic Design Using Hierarchical Process Planning

Flexible transfer line(FTL)is now widely used in ma ny manufacturing domains to realize efficiently,high quantity and economic prod uction.These manufacturing domains include automobile,tractor,internal-combu stion engine,and so on.In today’s competitive business environment,it is vit ally important for machine tool manufacturers to design flexible transfer line m ore effectively and efficiently according to a wider variety of customer demand s.This paper proposes an approach to a bidding-based flexible transfer line sc hematic design system.By analyzing manual FTL design process,the architecture o f flexible transfer line schematic design system(FTLSDS)is established.The syst em consists:of four processes:part feature modeling,process planning,FTL fac i lity layout and FTL evaluation. For FTL schematic design.a five-level proces s planning strategy named hierarchical process planning method is proposed.This method includes selection of manufacturing feature machining operation;part se t-up planning,feature sequencing,operation sequencing and process plan genera ting.The major decision relies on setup planning.According to the proceeding o f the hierarchical process planning,the structure of reasoning is proposed base d on blackboard.Under this paradigm,a cooperative effort between a hybrid coll ection of knowledge sources is possible.Total reasoning task can be divided int o some subtasks,and recursive-reasoning system is formed.It is convenient for process planning with step-by-step solution.Meanwhile,the blackboard is use d as the global data exchange area during all reasoning process.By using modula r technology,special purpose machine tools can be designed more efficiently and rapidly.The framework of machine modular design system to support machine requ irement design for FTL is established.By synthesizing the FTL evaluation criter ia.five evaluation criteria of flexible transfer 1ine schematic design are take n into account.An exampie is supplied to demonstrate and verify the validity an d feasibility of flexible transfer line schematic design approach.

Flexible transfer line(FTL)is now widely used in ma ny manufacturing domains to realize efficiently,high quantity and economic prod uction.These manufacturing domains include automobile,tractor,internal-combu stion engine,and so on.In today s competitive business environment,it is vit ally important for machine tool manufacturers to design flexible transfer line m ore effectively and efficiently according to a wider variety of customer demand s.This paper proposes an approach to a bidding-based flexible tra...