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A novel assembly simulation method based on semantics and geometric constraint

Pan Wang (Ministry of Education Key Lab of Contemporary Design and Integrated Manufacturing Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China)
Yuan Li (The Ministry of Education Key Lab of Contemporary Design and Integrated Manufacturing Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China)
Lin Yu (The Ministry of Education Key Lab of Contemporary Design and Integrated Manufacturing Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China)
Jie Zhang (The Ministry of Education Key Lab of Contemporary Design and Integrated Manufacturing Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China)
Zhijia Xu (School of Mechanical & "Automotive" Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)

Assembly Automation

ISSN: 0144-5154

Article publication date: 1 February 2016

478

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel assembly simulation method to reduce the repetitive and tedious assembly simulation work. Currently, assembly simulation is always carried out by human–computer interaction, which is a time-consuming and tedious work. The most important reason for this problem is that the assembly simulation is a mapping between human intent and movements of models; at the same time, assembly information is transferred from semantic level to geometric level. However, some essential assembly information is lost during the transfer, and it must be accomplished through manual definition. To address the issue, a novel assembly simulation method is proposed in this paper based on semantics and geometric constraint.

Design/methodology/approach

First, an assembly operation semantic model is put forward to integrate and manage the semantic information of assembly, and some rules for modeling are generalized. Second, method for transferring assembly information from semantic level to geometric level is presented by dividing assembly operation into a set of simulation actions and providing some rules for this division. Then, a geometric constraint-based calculation method is proposed to obtain the essential parameters of each simulation action. Finally, cases are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.

Findings

Results show that laborious work would be reduced, and the redundant human participation would be avoided in assembly simulation.

Practical implications

It has the potential and possibility to change the current pattern of assembly simulation.

Originality/value

A novel assembly simulation method based on semantics and geometric constraint is presented to make assembly simulation more convenient and faster.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51205316), the Aerospace Technology Support Fund (2013-HT-XGD), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (2014JM7241) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3102014JCS05010) for financial support.

Citation

Wang, P., Li, Y., Yu, L., Zhang, J. and Xu, Z. (2016), "A novel assembly simulation method based on semantics and geometric constraint", Assembly Automation, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 34-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/AA-05-2015-036

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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