A knowledge-based design advisory system for collaborative design for micromanufacturing

The manufacture of microproducts differs from that of conventional products in many ways, not only in the sizes, but also in issues concerning the effects of material properties, tools, and manufacturing equipment. There was a need for a new design methodology and associated design tools to aid designers in assessing the design of their microproducts by considering new micromanufacturing capabilities and constraints. A knowledge-based design advisory system (DAS) was, therefore, developed in MASMICRO in which the knowledge-based system with dedicated assessment modules and knowledge representatives based on the ontology was created to implement the distributed design and manufacturing assessment for micromanufacturing. The modules address the assessment on geometrical features relating to manufacturability, manufacturing processes, selection of materials, tools, and machines, as well as manufacturing cost. The Microsoft C# programming language, ASP.NET web technology, Prolog, and Microsoft Access database were used to develop the DAS. The test on the DAS prototype system was found to provide an increase of design efficiency due to more efficient use of design and manufacturing knowledge and afforded a web-based collaborative design environment.