A COMPUTER-AIDED FRAMEWORK FOR THE SELECTION AND SEQUENCING OF ORIENTATING DEVICES FOR THE VIBRATORY BOWL FEEDER

Correct part orientation has been the kev to many Successful automatio n applications, and often vibratory bowls were used. Traditionally, th e design and tooling of the vibratory bowls are limited to a group of skilled experts. In this paper a feature-based framework for the autom atic selection and sequencing of orientating devices is presented. A d irect link between part representation and the selection and sequencin g of modular orientating devices is provided by a spatial technique, i n place of traditional CAD representation. Also described is the class ification of a part's orientating features and classification of orien tating devices. These two classifications are integrated into a knowle dge-based system that will automatically generate sequences of modular orientating devices.