HYBRID BLACKBOARD MODEL FOR FEATURE INTERACTIONS IN-PROCESS PLANNING

This paper describes a hybrid blackboard model designed for process pl anning of prismatic parts on CNC machine tools in a batch manufacturin g environment. This hybrid blackboard model uses mixed-type reasoning to handle feature interactions by combining the forward chaining for f eature sequencing and the backward chaining for the combining the forw ard chaining for feature sequencing and the backward chaining for the construction of a process plan. In such a hybrid model, the human prob lem-solving strategies are decoupled from the tools for analysis and s orting algorithms. The central algorithm has four steps: (1) define th e important information for features and feature-related concern; (2) prioritize, the given feature according to the given constraints and s orting guideline; (3) sequence the features; and (4) attach the needed operations to the features in machine/process/feature/set-up/tool/tim e/cost format.