AUTOMATIC MODEL CREATION FOR KINEMATIC ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

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The successful adaptation and optimization of existing designs play an important role in the design of high speed machinery. Adaptation and extension of existing design principles to achieve some new functional or performance requirement is imperative for the development of the next generation of machines. In addition to this, continual improvement and optimization of existing designs are necessary to sustain a product's commercial success. Where complex mechanical systems are considered such design activities usually require the application of advanced simulation packages or intelligent CAD systems. The widespread utilization of such techniques, for all but the largest enterprises, is severely frustrated by the considerable level of resources required in order to retain a single, proficient user. These resources include extensive initial training as well as ongoing courses, the purchase of commercial licenses and more often than not, the considerable time and effort necessary for the creation and development of complex computer based models. As a consequence, many SMEs demand reliable, efficient and economical methods to generate simulation models for analysis and investigation. One method for delivering this is to provide an approach for the automatic creation of simulation models from data describing an existing design. Such an approach can reduce costs and resources as well as expedite the model building process. This paper presents a method for automatically generating a representative CAD model of a mechanical system. It supports the transformation of digital images into kinematic models for simulation and analysis. The method integrates motion analysis techniques, a parametric description of mechanical systems and a constraint-based CAD system.