Flexible Software Framework for Collaboration Systems

Abstract

CollabFramework (CFW) is a flexible framework that we have created to modularize the development of a thin client collaborative system. The construction of modules is simplified by providing programming abstractions that are common across modules. Multiple views and dataflow between modules is also supported. Clients provide shape input and this information is passed to the server using the internet. The server coordinates the operation of collaboration, assembly, feature modeling, solid modeling and generates the 3D boundary representation. The boundary representation is converted to a faceted representation which is then sent to the clients. The faceted representation allows for a thin client that has lower computing and memory requirements compared to standalone systems. All collaborations can be associated to the product being designed, stored and retrieved from the server for later re-use. This paper describes the CFW design and three experimental modules we have developed using CFW: assembly, feature modeling and 3D markup modules. We claim to be the first to develop a framework for distributed collaborative product design systems.