Multilevel modeling of manufacturing processes using object oriented Petri nets and advanced knowledge representation

Manufacturing the process modeling system is an important component of the integrated CAD/CAPP/CAM system. At this time industrial practice is still waiting for appropriate modeling methods for manufacturing processes. This is why manufacturing process models are not involved in most CAD/CAM systems. The authors are involved in the development of manufacturing process modeling methods. In this paper a new manufacturing process modeling methodology is introduced. The manufacturing process model is considered as a partial model of a product model. Process features are represented by object oriented Petri nets. Rule sets are used at evaluation of Petri nets. The paper is organized as follows. First, the problem of process modeling is explained. Then the proposed process model is outlined. Following this the basic model and knowledge representations, as well as the most important objects and their relations are described. Finally, knowledge acquisition and evaluation of the models during interactive manufacturing process planning are outlined. The problems that can be solved using the proposed methodology are concluded.