Knowledge intensive methodology for intelligent design and planning of assemblies

Research into assembly oriented design, planning and system development is of significance not only for product manufacturing and maintenance, but also for conceptual design problem-solving and interpretation. Currently available product-modeling software cannot be easily applied to assembly oriented design, planning and system development because of their sequential, inflexible, and non-intelligent approach. Future CAD/CAM systems must manipulate mechanical systems and assemblies as knowledge intensive systems with cooperation and learning abilities rather than isolated pure geometric information systems. This research aims to develop a novel knowledge intensive methodology to assist designers in the early stages of product development, which involves concurrent integration of assembly design, planning, simulation, analysis, and evaluation.Doctor of Philosophy (MPE