A systematic approach for 3D VRML model-based assembly in Web-based product design

Collaborative virtual assembly design is often considered complicated and hardly achievable, for it requires high real-time performance, platform independence, and model synchronization. In order to satisfy all these requirements, a VRML-based virtual assembly solution is proposed. This paper first presents a synchronous moving-searching algorithm for retrieving information from the basic assembly model (BAM) and target assembly model (TAM) in order to give Internet-based collaborative assembly capabilities to these VRML files. Then, a set of assembly approaches for VRML models are systematically addressed to implement the assembly according to constraints of link relations. The advantages of the algorithm and assembly approaches are their high computational efficiency and ease of implementation, which enriches works of Anton and Gorazd (2003) and Qin et al. (2004) with respect to accessibility and maneuverability of VRML model-based assembly design. Moreover, the realization method of collaborative assembly over the Internet is introduced. Finally, some actual examples of collaborative virtual assemblies systems are provided to illustrate the application of these approaches.