Computer Aided Prototyping

该机构基础设施奖旨在支持计算机辅助制造工程一般领域的研究。犹他大学研究小组采用的方法是计算机辅助制作待制造物体的原型。这个过程分为三个独立的研究领域：设计、原型设计和验证。设计方面的研究涉及增强阿尔法1计算机辅助几何设计系统。这个系统能够用数学方法描述要制造的物体。通过将一些常见的制造步骤作为特殊元素合并到模型中（例如，这个孔要被反钻孔），可以增强模型的可靠性。原型方面是采用对象（例如齿轮）的数学描述，并生成NC代码和必要的工具序列，以便在机器中心实际生产该项目。犹他大学已经拥有一个五轴加工中心、一个数控车削中心、3-D聚合物设备和机器人设备，因此可以通过实验验证他们的研究。长期目标是优化工装序列和其他必要的制造活动，以使工厂在没有人工监督的情况下运行。这个原型设备也将用于与雅各布森博士的工程设计中心的合作工作。这个中心设计和制造了许多原型项目。在日本和欧洲国家，使用计算机来辅助和指导制造业比在美国更为普遍。该机构基础设施奖用于支持自动化制造实验室，该实验室将允许制造项目的快速设计和原型制作。一旦原型被认为是可以接受的，就可以探索改进产品制造的方法，特别是在小批量生产时。犹他大学在成功的工业合作方面有着悠久的历史，预计这项研究的成果将广泛传播给美国制造业。

This Institutional Infrastructure award is to support research in the general area of Computer Aided Manufacturing Engineering. The approach taken by the Utah group is computer aided prototyping of objects to be manufactured. The process is broken down into three separate areas of research: design, prototyping, and validation. The design aspect of the research involves enhancing the Alpha 1 computer aided geometric design system. This system is able to mathematically describe objects to be manufactured. It is enhanced by incorporating some commonly occurring manufacturing steps into the model as special elements (e.g., this hole is to be counterbored). The proto-typing aspect is to take the mathematical description of the object (say a gear) and generate the NC codes and the tooling sequences necessary to actually produce the item on a machine center. The University of Utah already possesses a five axis machine center, a CNC turning center, 3-D polymer equipment, and robotics equipment and so can experimentally validate their research. A long term goal is to optimize the tooling sequences and other necessary manufacturing activities in order to have the factory operate without human supervision. This prototyping facility would also be used in collaborative work with Dr. Jacobsen's Center for Engineering Design. This center designs and manufactures many prototype items. The use of computers to aid and guide manufacturing is more common in Japan and the European countries than in the United States. This Institutional Infrastructure award is for the support of an automated manufacturing laboratory that will allow the quick design and prototyping of manufactured items. Once the prototype is deemed acceptable, methods of improving the manufacturing of the item, particularly in small batch numbers, can be explored. The University of Utah has a long history of successful industrial collaborations and it is expected that the results of this research will be widely disseminated to the United States manufacturing industry.