Multihierarchical representation of tetrahedral truss structures for assembly sequence planning

A hexagonal grid representation of tetrahedral truss structures that explicitly incorporates the geometry of the set of parts and simplifies the reasoning needed in planning assembly sequences is introduced. This representation captures the regularity of tetrahedral truss structures and their multiple hierarchies. The hexagonal grid maps into a rectangular grid and therefore into a 2D array. The adoption of this representation and its associated data structure makes it practicable to automate the assembly planning for large structures.<
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