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An experimental comparison of a feature based design system and a conventional solid modeller
conference contribution
posted on 2014-03-10, 15:11 authored by James Gao, Keith Case, N. GindyComputer-Aided Design (CAD) systems are currently widely used in design and
manufacturing industries. However, the integration of CAD systems with Computer-
Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems such as process planning, graphical numerical
control (NC part programming), assembly and inspection planning requires a featurebased
representation of components which is not found in conventional geometry-based
CAD systems. To meet this requirement, feature-based CAD systems have been
developed in research centres worldwide using feature-oriented user interfaces and
feature-based representations of parts. The introduction of new technology (feature-based
design in this instance) always raises important questions. For example, are feature-based
systems easier to learn and more efficient than conventional geometric modellers?; and
does the method generate more complete and accurate models? This paper reports an
experiment which was carried out to compare a prototype feature-based design system
with a conventional solid modeller, where both systems use an iconic interface. Eight
engineering students were selected as subjects and each subject was required to generate
six features using both systems. The time taken to generate each feature was recorded and
the results were presented as a series of graphs and learning curves. The results of the
experiment show that both systems are similar in terms of learning their operation and that
the feature's approach has clear efficiency gains over the conventional geometric
approach. The conclusions drawn from this experiment may be useful for both end users
who are considering upgrading their existing systems and software vendors who are
designing next generation of products.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
GAO, J., CASE, K. and GINDY, N., 1993. An experimental comparison of a feature based design system and a conventional solid modeller. IN: Hassard, J.S. et al (eds). Proceedings of the International Conference on Managing Integrated Manufacturing: Organisation, Strategy and Technology, 22nd-24th September 1993, Keele University, pp. 339 - 351Version
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publication date
1993Notes
This conference paper is closed access.Language
- en