A PDES/ STEP-based product data preparation procedure for computer-aided process planning

This paper is focused on a procedure for preparation of product data for computer-aided process planning. The foundation of the project is a set of emerging standards, known as PDES/ STEP. It is realized that, in order to develop a procedure for consistent, unambiguous data abstraction from a generic data structure, the foundation on which the procedure is based is crucial. It is believed that PDES/ STEP, although not fully developed, will be able to meet those requirements. The product data preparation procedure is built upon a concept called application protocol. An application protocol is specific to an engineering application, in this case computer-aided process planning. The reason for adopting such a concept is explained in the paper. Other important elements to this project include EXPRESS, C++ and R OSE database, which all are explained in the paper with examples. The paper is concluded with plans for further research.