A knowledge based system for the integrated design and manufacture of round broach tools

A complete knowledge based procedure for the design and manufacture of a round hole broach tool is described. The knowledge based design system (KBDS) produces a tool specification from user inputs describing the task to be performed. These design results are then used by the knowledge base to generate a geometric CAD/CAM representation, which can be utilized directly to display a drawing of the tool or to generate a CNC program for producing it. The process of formulating a knowledge-based design system demonstrates: the integration of expertise from experts, handbooks and theory; the awareness of restrictions on the scope of design that can be handled by a given system: the use of failure handling mechanisms to detect design failures and either adjust the emerging design or indicate infeasibility.