FEATURE-BASED MODELING - AN OBJECT-ORIENTED APPROACH

Feature-based models have created an elegant way of integrating CAD an d CAM. These models have the capability of storing the design in terms of features which can also relate to manufacturing processes. The int egration process requires an extensive data structure capable of integ rating various types of data including geometric, tolerancing informat ion and manufacturing related data. The object-oriented paradigm, as a powerful modeling tool, has recently gained popularity in the design and implementation of emerging data-intensive applications which inclu de Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM). It provides an elegant means for mastering the complexity of large sy stems by decomposing them into hierarchies of data abstractions. This paper presents the result of the author's research in modeling integra ted feature-based CAD/CAM systems using object-oriented database struc ture. The proposed object-oriented model supports data integrity and d ata abstraction required by the system. The key elements of the develo ped model are data and behavior schemes of features and their interact ion. Designing and developing such schemes require a sophisticated mod eling approach to support complicated data manipulations as well as be havior modeling in the same fashion. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.