An approach towards the integration of CAD/CAM/CAI through STEP file using feature extraction for cylindrical parts

Rapid product development and cost reduction are the critical issues for organisations in this globalisation era. To succeed in a competitive environment, manufacturing industries should integrate the elements of a manufacturing system with the help of information flow. In this environment, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and computer-aided inspection (CAI) play a vital role and these should be integrated for high-quality production with minimum lead time. However, in real-time manufacturing, there is a lack of smooth information flow between these systems. Hence, it is proposed that the use of CAD exchange files provides automatic transmission of data between these systems leading to a successful integration of CAD/CAM/CAI. In this work, an attempt was made to integrate CAD, CAM and CAI by way of a feature extraction process using the STEP file. Using the feature information, NC codes were generated for a CNC machine to manufacture the desired parts. The feature information is also useful as reference data for controlling the quality of manufactured parts by comparing with the data measured by machine vision system and coordinate measuring machine. In this paper, the concept of integration is explained with the demonstration of a cylindrical component.