AUTOPASS: An Automatic Programming System for Computer Controlled Mechanical Assembly

This paper describes an experimental very high level programming system for computer controlled mechanical assembly, AUTOPASS (AUTOmated Parts ASsembly System). The AUTOPASS language is oriented towards objects and assembly operations, rather than motions of mechanical assembly machines. It is intended to enable the user to concentrate on the overall assembly sequence and to program with English-like statements using names and terminology that are familiar to him. To relate assembly operations to manipulator motions, the AUTOPASS compiler uses an internal representation of the assembly world. This representation consists of a geometric data base generated prior to compilation and updated during compilation; it thus represents the state of the world at each assembly step. The level of the language has been chosen to provide a high degree of assistance to the user without the system's having to perform artificial intelligence type problem solving operations.