Assembly Sequence Planning by Probabilistic Tree Transformation

Abstract

Various types of computer systems including CAD/CAM systems have been introduced in machine industry. Some of the systems can handle assembly sequence planning, however it requires long time for planning. This paper proposes a method of generating assembly sequences efficiently. This method extracts some parts and/or subassemblies whose possibilities of being removed from a product are strong, and tests whether they can be removed without any geometric interference. By performing these operations repeatedly, the method generates a disassembly sequence of the product, and obtains an assembly sequence by reversing it. The extraction of some parts and/or subassemblies is performed, based on probabilistic tree transformation. The authors present a calculation example by using a software tool integrated with a CAD system.