Computer supported collaborative design: Retrospective and perspective

UML based specifications of PDM product structure and workflow

In order to facilitate product realisation processes, presently, research is actively being carried out to develop methodologies and technologies to support geographically dispersed teams to organi...

State-of-the-art technologies and methodologies for collaborative product development systems

In recent years, product knowledge has played increasingly significant roles in new product development process especially in the development of One-of-a-Kind products. Although knowledge-based systems (KBSs) have been proposed to support product development activities and new knowledge modelling methodologies have been developed, they are still far from complete. This area has become attractive to many researchers and as a result, many new knowledge-based systems, methods and tools have been developed. However, to the best of our knowledge, knowledge-based systems for product development have not been systematically reviewed, compared and summarized. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the recent development of KBS, methods and tools in supporting rapid product development. In the paper, the relevant technologies for modelling, managing and representing knowledge are investigated and reviewed systematically for better understanding their characteristics. The focus is placed on knowledge-based systems that support product development, and how product knowledge is identified, captured, represented and reused during the processes of One-of-a-Kind product development. The limitations and the future trend of KBS are presented in terms of how they can help One-of-a-Kind Production (OKP) companies.

Recent development of knowledge-based systems, methods and tools for One-of-a-Kind Production

https://ir.nctu.edu.tw:443/bitstream/11536/12399/1/000236460500007.pdf

Applications of the Web-based collaborative visualization in distributed product development

For manufacturers, profitability always depends upon the orderly and efficient development, production and distribution of their products. Product Data Management (PDM) is a unique technology, which integrates and manages all applications, information and processes that define a product, from design to manufacture, and to end-user support. The recent advance in Web-based technologies has the potential to greatly enhance PDM's functionality and capability, and to overcome the obstacles that many traditional PDM systems are confronted. It is found in this research that a multi-tiered, collaborative environment with advanced Web technologies is well suited for a PDM system to operate in. In this research, the overall architecture of a Web-enabled PDM system in the Collaborative Design environment is proposed. The architecture is based on the use of open data standards to allow users on a wide variety of platforms to access the product data and other related information. It enables product visualisation using interactive 3-D graphics by the disparate members of a collaborative PDM team. Integral elements of the proposed architecture include object-oriented database (OODB), object-oriented DataBase management system, common gateway interface script and visualisation applications. The use of standard for the exchange of product model data standard effectively integrates different CAD and PDM systems. The advantage of OODB is its efficiency and effectiveness in handling complex data structures often found in engineering applications. Virtual reality modelling language provides a 3-D dynamic visualisation capability. The system, which is implemented using Microsoft Visual Basic, runs in the Windows environment with the basic Internet connections.

Tony Liu

Papers

A web-enabled PDM system in a collaborative design environment