Presidential Young Investigator Award: Geometric Modeling and Tolerances

公差在决定制成品的质量、成本和上市时间方面起着重要作用。目前的公差测量方法是劳动密集型的，而且容易出错。研究的目的是根据源自传统计算机辅助设计系统的产品设计规范，开发计算机自动解决公差问题所需的理论基础。正在解决的一些具体的子问题是：发展公差的数学理论，为当前设计实践中使用的每一种几何公差和正负公差提供有用的算法解释；开发捕捉匹配特征关系语义的装配模型；将自动公差能力扩展到概念设计；以及开发在存在小的模拟制造差异的情况下稳健的计算几何策略。

Tolerances play an important role in determining the quality, cost, and time to market, of manufactured products. Current tolerancing methods are labor intensive, and error prone. Research is directed to the development of the theoretical foundations necessary for the automated computer solution of tolerancing problems, based on product design specifications derived from traditional computer-aided design systems. Some of the specific sub-problems being addressed are: the development of a mathematical theory of tolerances that provides a useful algorithmic interpretation of each of the geometric and plus-minus tolerances used in current design practice; the development of assembly models that capture the semantics of mating feature relationships; the extension of automated tolerancing capabilities to conceptual design; and the development of strategies for computational geometry that are robust in the presence of small simulated manufacturing variations.