Open Competition - Manufacturing (Discrete) (October 1999)

Model Driven Intelligent Control of Manufacturing

Sponsor: STEP Tools, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/1999 - 10/31/2002
• Total project (est.): $2,908,185.00
• Requested ATP funds: $1,998,880.00

Although manufacturing design is now largely done with sophisticated computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems, control of the machine tools that actually produce the parts (or the molds used to produce a part) is comparatively primitive, using numeric codes that specify the path of the cutting tool. To better integrate the manufacturing process and allow more flexible use of machine tools, STEP Tools, Inc., will attempt to create the software environment for an intelligent manufacturing system that shares data between product design, process planning, and the machine tool controllers. Central to the project will be the development of a data-sharing system -- an extension of the STEP and STEP-NC standards for design and manufacturing plan data -- that includes product definition, process characteristics, and details about the cutting tool and related fixtures in a database. A key innovation will be to put more "intelligence" in the machine tool controllers, allowing them to generate from the product and process information in the database the necessary tool path and cutting instructions. Over three years, the project plans to develop a prototype integrated data-sharing system for design-to-manufacturing, incorporating all the necessary information from product definition to set-up requirements in the shared database. By replacing a data exchange process that has been in place for over 50 years, STEP Tools hopes to provide manufacturers with increased productivity, reduced product variation and process faults, increased speed to market, improved supply chain management, and create flexibility in using capital assets. In addition, the introduction of new manufacturing systems will provide a boost to software suppliers and the machine tool control industry. The major impact would be in the durable goods sector, which ships over $500 billion in goods annually. ATP support will allow STEP Tools, a small development company, to bring together the vendors of numerically controlled machine tools and of CAD/CAM systems, who up to now have been unable to bridge the technical gap separating them. Major subcontractors on the project will include Allied Signal (Kansas City, Mo.), a CAD tool developer; Bridgeport Machines, Inc., (Bristol, Pa.), a machine tool controller vendor; and the Center for Automation Technologies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.)

For project information:

Martin Hardwick, (518) 276-2848
hardwick@steptools.com

ATP Project Manager

Jack Boudreaux, (301) 975-3560
jack.boudreaux@nist.gov