Multiagent Based Product Data Communication System for Computer Supported Collaborative Design (original) (raw)

An Architecture of Adaptive Product Data Communication System for Collaborative Design

Today, designers and engineers on collaborative design environments often work in parallel and independently using different tools distributed at separate locations. Due to unique characteristic of engineering design, interaction during product development is difficult to support. As the information and communication technologies advances, computer supported collaborative design (CSCD) becomes more promising. Nevertheless, a potential problem remains between the product design and manufacturing, which mainly lies on the geometric shape of products that exists inherent in mass-customization. Meanwhile, CAD/CAM technologies have their own authoring tools, which govern the use of independent language and format for expressing various features and geometry. This condition creates incompatibility and has significant impact to the product costs. This paper is to address the incompatibility problem by introducing an architecture of the adaptive product data communication system. The adapti...

The Role of Computers in Synchronous Collaborative Design

In this paper we discuss the role of computers in supporting real-time synchronous design among geographically dispersed team members using the global network of computers known as the Internet. To enable efficient and functional synchronous design activity, we advocate a new generation of design-oriented software that combines collaboration technologies with a meaningful and parsimonious representation scheme. We are particularly interested in supporting the early design phases, wherein many of the most important decisions are made and collaboration is most important. These activities are crucial to the evolution and quality of the final design, and they are receptive to and can benefit from computer support. Furthermore, these are precisely the areas where current CAD systems are weakest. As a general theoretical direction, our emphasis is not on integrated databases, but rather on shared protocols of interaction that are independent of implementation and storage schemes. Our firs...

Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD)

2013

It is my great pleasure to host the CSCWD conference again in Canada, this time in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia, after 12 years since CSCWD 2001 which was held in London, Ontario. Design of complex artifacts, systems, processes, and services requires the cooperation of multidisciplinary design teams. The 2013 IEEE 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD 2013) provides a forum for researchers and practitioners involved in different but related domains to confront research results and discuss key problems. The scope of CSCWD 2013 includes the research and development fields of collaboration technologies and applications to the design of processes, products, systems, and services in industries and societies. Such technologies include collaboration methods, mechanisms, protocols, software tools, platforms, and services that support collaboration and coordination among people, software and hardware systems. Related fields of research include collaborative workflows, collaborative virtual environments, collaborative workspaces, collaborative wireless sensor networks, interoperability, ontology and semantics, security and privacy, as well as social aspects and human factors related to collaboration.

Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design II

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006

Recently, advanced information technologies have opened new possibilities for collaborative designs. In this paper, a Web-based collaborative design environment is proposed, where heterogeneous design applications can be integrated with a common interface, managed dynamically for publishing and searching, and communicated with each other for integrated multi-objective design. The CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) is employed as an implementation tool to enable integration and communication of design application programs; and the XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is used as a common data descriptive language for data exchange between heterogeneous applications and for resource description and recording. This paper also introduces the implementation of the system and the encapsulating issues of existing legacy applications. At last, an example of gear design based on the system is illustrated to identify the methods and procedure developed by this research.

Development of an Internet-Based Collaborative Design System in a Context of Concurrent Engineering

… , Advanced Research in Virtual and Rapid …, 2005

This work presents a description of the implementation of the WebMachining methodology and system (http://WebMachining.AlvaresTech.com) developed in a context of e-Mfg and Concurrent Engineering, aiming at integrating CAD/CAPP/CAM for the remote manufacturing of cylindrical components through the Internet. The methodology and its implementation are conceived starting from the modelling paradigm based on synthesis of design features, in order to allow the integration among collaborative design (Web-CADbyFeatures), generative process planning (WebCAPP) and manufacturing (WebTurning). The system is implemented in a distributed environment of agents (agents' community), and Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML) is adopted as the language for message exchange among the design, process planning and manufacturing agents.

A complex systems perspective on computer-supported collaborative design technology

Communications of the ACM, 2002

A design (of physical artifacts such as cars and planes, as well as behavioral ones such as plans, schedules, production processes or software) can be represented as a set of issues (sometimes also known as parameters) each with a unique value. If we imagine that the possible values for every issue are each laid along their own orthogonal axis, then the resulting multidimensional space can be called the design space, wherein every point represents a distinct (though not necessarily good or even physically possible) design. The choices for each design issue are typically highly interdependent. Typical sources of interdependency include shared resource (weight and cost) limits, geometric fit, spatial separation requirements, I/O interface conventions, and timing constraints, to name a few.

Collaborative Design and Manufacture Supported by Multiple Web/Internet Techniques

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006

A research project in Web-enable collaborative design and manufacture has been conducted. The major tasks of the project include development of a Web-enable environment for collaboration, online collaborative CAD/CAM, remote execution of large size programs (RELSP), and distributed product design. The tasks and Web/Internet techniques involved are presented first, followed by detail description of two approaches developed for implementation of the research: (1) a client-server approach for RELSP, where the following Internet techniques are utilized: CORBA, Microsoft"s Internet information server, Tomcat server, JDBC and ODBC; (2) Web-Services supported collaborative CAD which enables geographically dispersed designers jointly conduct a design task in the way of speaking and seeing each other and instantaneously modifying the CAD drawing online. The authors currently involved in two EU-China collaboration projects financially supported by the European Commission"s Asia IT&C [4] and Asia-Link [5] programmes. Research in Web-enable collaboration is a major task of the two projects. The aim of the research is to improve cooperation between China and Europe by improving Information Science Interconnectivity in the area of intelligent manufacturing. The main activities include: (1) Development of a Web-enabled environment for geographically dispersed teams to collaborate over the Internet, (2) Research and development into enabling ICT for collaborative design and manufacturing and their implementation with the Web-enabled environment, and (3) Case studies to apply the methods, procedures and ICT tools developed. In the following sections, the major tasks of the research and related Web/Internet techniques are presented first, followed by detail description of the application of two

Collaborative Design in The Assembly Systems

Digital Enterprise Technology, 2007

Today companies are specialized for partial technology processes. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands of collaborative processes depend on workers interaction and communication in product assembly and disassembly phase. With intensive coordination during all manufacturing phases of designing of one product and technology documentation are produced, in digital form, on CAx workstation. Product Lifecycle Management can be achieved by using specialized software solutions. Some of the Product Lifecycle Management solutions offer integrated portfolio for engineering design and production of products and services, which enables companies to create their own digital ebusiness projects. In this paper it will be given a representation of the contemporaneously solutions for collaborative design and the example of using solutions in the industry.