A feature-based system for CAD/CAM integration through STEP file for cylindrical parts

Abstract

Intelligent manufacturing systems of the future produce small lot size with high flexibility, which require quick and automated decisions. To suit this environment, the integration of CAD and CAM is required. The key to the system integration is the product data exchange among various systems. This paper explains the integration of CAD and CAM by feature extraction. The system developed uses a simplified and generalized methodology of extracting manufacturing feature information from STEP files for cylindrical parts. The extracted data is used to generate controller dependent NC codes. Experimentation is carried out by turning the cylindrical parts using the generated codes and validated by inspecting them in CMM.