A Product Modeler for Assembly

The objective of this project is to develop a new form of designer system for modeling discrete products which is capable of capturing the designer's intentions and all necessary life-cycle considerations for a product. The product modeler should also be capable of propagating the intentions as part of the product information to the manufacturing planning systems using domain specific life-cycle issues as constraints in evaluating the design and thus assuring concurrency of evaluation for life-cycle issues of the product during the design process. This system will have a general framework for all discrete product domains but will be developed domain by domain in a progression from sheet metal fabrication, to assembly, to machining etc. Finally, process planning modules (and other tractable non- company specific planning systems) will be added for each domain providing for a complete design and planning system.