Automatic Program Generation Research Articles

Automatic Generation System for Making NC Punch Press Programs using Pattern Recognition Technique.

An automatic program generation system for NC punch press machine is proposed. NC programs to control machine tools can be generated automatically by the system according to the data described in the design drawing of final products.In this system, silhouette decomposition procedure which is one of pattern recognition techniques is employed to recognize the drawing. The procedure is applied to decompose a complex shaped hole in the design drawing into punch primitives, where the shaped hole and the punch primitives correspond to the overlapped silhouette and the discrete components of it, respectively.The outline of the developed silhouette decomposition procedure and automatic program generation system is given.

Automatic program generation for PC-based sequence control problems

Serum galactose-deficient immunoglobulin A1 (Gd-IgA1) is an inherited risk factor for adult IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In this paper, we determined the heritability of serum Gd-IgA1 levels in children with IgAN and Henoch–Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN), two disorders with clinical phenotypes sharing common pathogenic mechanisms. Serum Gd-IgA1 concentrations were quantified using a Helix aspersa-lectin-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. As a group, 34 children with either disorder (20 with HSPN and 14 with IgAN) had significantly higher Gd-IgA1 levels compared with 51 age- and ethnicity-matched pediatric controls. Serum levels of Gd-IgA1 were also elevated in a large fraction of 54 first-degree relatives of pediatric IgAN and HSPN patients compared with 141 unrelated healthy adult controls. A unilineal transmission of the trait was found in 17, bilineal transmission in 1, and sporadic occurrence in 5 of 23 families when both parents and the patient were analyzed. There was a significant age-, gender-, and household-adjusted heritability of serum galactose-deficient IgA1 estimated at 76% in pediatric IgAN and at 64% in HSPN patients. Thus, serum galactose-deficient IgA1 levels are highly inherited in pediatric patients with IgAN and HSPN, providing support for another shared pathogenic link between these disorders.

Automatic generation of parallel occam programs for transputer rings

A novel methodology for generating parallel Occam programs for execution on rings of transputers is presented. It aims to relieve the programmer of writing error-prone message-passing Occam programs. To reach this goal, we have implemented a translator to automatically generate Occam programs from FP programs. With this translator, we can not only simulate regular arrays on transputers but also solve problems on transputer-based multicomputers. The translator tries to distribute the workload among the transputers evenly, so that the running time of Occam programs can be reduced. Experiments show that the efficiency of the generated programs is satisfactory.

Adaptive reusable components in program generation systems

The notion of integrating program specification that allows automatic program generation is described. A special problem decomposition method is considered, which allows accumulation and adaptation of reusable components and integration of different aspects of specification.

Procedures for automatic generation of conditional operating programs of an integral robot in the presence of inhibiting signals in the environment

Learning procedures under uncertainty are proposed for an integral robot. These procedures automatically generate the information model of the environment as a conditional program of desired operation of the robot.

Translating from FP to Occam for systolic algorithms

Programming multiprocessor systems is not a simple task and is often error-prone. In particular, programming a message-passing parallel computer usually demands large amounts of work in development and debugging to avoid deadlock. It is, therefore, essential to have software to support the task of parallel programming, or more desirably to have automatic parallel program generators to greatly reduce the labour. In this paper, we present a novel method of automatically generating Occam programs; or more precisely, we present an automatic FP-to-Occam translator called AFO. Occam is a parallel, message-passing programming language executed on a network of processors called transputers, but is basically a sequential language extended with primitive parallel and communication constructs. In contrast, FP is a functional language that contains no communication details and supports parallel thinking naturally with higher-level parallel constructs. FP has been used to derive many systolic algorithms. Systolic algorithms can be implemented in Occam as soft-systolic algorithms. With this knowledge, we developed AFO to automatically generate Occam programs from FP programs that have corresponding systolic algorithms, in the hope of generating parallel programs without needing to know the details of low-level communications, and thus greatly improving the productivity of parallel programming.

A prototype expert system for automatic generation of image processing programs

A prototype expert system for generating image processing programs using the subroutine package SPIDER is described in this paper. Based on an interactive dialog, the system can generate a complete application program using SPIDER routines.

Load balancing in a hybrid ATPG environment

The problem of balancing the computational load between fault simulation and conventional ATPG (automatic test program generation) is treated. A rule for switching from probabilistic to deterministic test pattern computation is derived. The criterion is based on a model of monitoring of the simulation process and on an online estimation of the fault detection probabilities. Using these probabilities and the operation characteristics of the ATPG program, one can decide whether it is more efficient to continue fault simulation or to proceed with algorithmic test pattern computation. A prototype of the hybrid ATPG system was implemented on an Apollo DN3000. Compared to a conventional ATPG system, better coverage and shorter generation times were obtained. >

Specification methods for material-handling control algorithms in flexible manufacturing systems

Good methods are needed to specify, test, and debug material-handling control logic. This article surveys a number of representative methods for defining and describing control algorithms for programmable material-handling equipment used in flexible manufacturing systems. The methods are evaluated with regard to their suitability for communication between people and as bases for interfaces to automatic program generators. It is concluded that no single method is entirely satisfactory. Three methods (position diagrams, function block diagrams, and operation networks) have potential to be combined into an effective hybrid approach that minimizes the need for the user to switch between various conceptual models.

An Expert System as a Link Between Computer Aided Design and Combined Stamping-Laser Manufacture

Sheet parts that have been drawn on any computer aided design (CAD) system can be manufactured on various stamping and laser-cutting machines with a prescribed set of tools. The expert system described in this paper generates from the CAD data of a part of a complete numerically controlled (NC) manufacturing plan, which contains only punching operations, only laser operations or a punching-laser combination. The main points in the fully automatic NC program generation are the recognition of the sheet part geometry, the determination of the manufacturing variant, the selection of the optimum punching tools, taking account of violation criteria, the introduction of the technology, the arrangement of many parts on a plate and the optimization of tool movement paths.

Automatic generation of self-scheduling programs

Techniques are described for the automatic generation of self-scheduling parallel programs. Both scheduling algorithms and the concurrent components of applications are expressed in a high-level concurrent language. Partitioning and data dependency information are expressed by simple control statements, which may be generated either automatically or manually. A self-scheduling compiler, implemented as a source-to-source transformation, takes application code, control statements, and scheduling routines and generates a new program that can schedule its own execution on a parallel computer. The approach has several advantages compared to previous proposals. It generates programs that are portable over a wide range of parallel computers. There is no need to embed special control structures in application programs. The use of a high-level language to express applications and scheduling algorithms facilitates the development, modification, and reuse of parallel programs.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Algorithm for automatic generation of conditional operating programs of an integral robot under uncertainty

The paper considers the description of situations in the problem environment by fuzzy semantic networks. An efficient algorithm is proposed for automatic generation of operating programs for an integral robot in an environment with a priori uncertainty.

Automatic program generation for PC-based sequence control problems

Abstract This paper describes a software tool for the automatic generation of ladder diagrams used in sequence control problems with programmable controllers. Input to the system consists of precedence relationships among activities and a functional description of input and output devices. A network representation of sequence control problems is introduced. The status of the control system at different instances of the operational cycle is progressively constructed based on input information. Two methods for the deduction of ladder diagrams using the notions of event and activity states are described. The concepts are illustrated with an example.

Graphical tool for computer-aided prototyping

The basic problem in rapid prototyping of software is information overload. Graphic interfaces can help by providing multiple views, where each view is limited to providing information relevant to a particular task or problem. The graphical editor under development for the Computer Aided Prototyping System (CAPS) proposes a dataflow-diagram-based model with multiple views and automatic program generation to manage the quantity of information necessary to prototype large, real-time systems.

Reusable components and assembly design of data processing systems

The paper discusses the features of the assembly programming environment for data processing systems with enhanced reusability of software modules. Types of abstractions are proposed that make it possible to accumulate and use application development experience in the form of reusable components for automatic program generation.

Modelling sensors: Toward automatic generation of object recognition program

One of the most important and systematic methods of building model-based vision systems is that of generating object recognition programs automatically from given geometric models. Automatic generation of object recognition programs requires several key components to be developed: object models to describe the geometric and photometric properties of the object to be recognized, sensor models to predict object appearances from the object model under a given sensor, strategy generation using the predicted appearances to produce a recognition strategy, and program generation converting the recognition strategy into an executable code. This paper concentrates on sensor modeling and its relationship to strategy generation, because we regard it as the bottleneck to automatic generation of object recognition programs. We consider two aspects of sensor characteristics: sensor detectability and sensor reliability. Sensor detectability specifies what kinds of featuers can be detected and under what conditions the features are detected; sensor reliability is a confidence level for the detected features. We define a configuration space to represent sensor characteristics. Then, we propose a representation method for sensor detectability and reliability in the configuration space. Finally, we investigate how to use the proposed sensor model in automatic generation of object recognition programs.

An intelligent assistant for manufacturing system simulation

This paper discusses the coupling of an intelligent assistant with the simulation of manufacturing systems. Included in this paper are a description of the traditional simulation approach, simulation using an intelligent user interface to define the simulation model, an automatic program generator to write the simulation code in the target simulation language and the development of the Automatic Manufacturing Programming System (AMPS).

Automated generation of NC part programs from a feature-based component description

Abstract A system for the automatic generation of NC part programs from a feature-based component description is proposed, Such a system would subdivide the overall machining task into separate features/ feature groups such that the complete machining of the component would be achieved by separate machining of all features/feature groups in the component. NC code for each feature/feature group in the component would be generated parametrically. The development of a system for the automatic generation of part programs for 2.5D components is detailed. This system which is based on a simplified version of the 3D feature description has been used to generate part programs at a considerable time saving over traditional computer-aided part programming methods.

Gradpack: A Symbolic System for Automatic Generation of Numerical Programs in Parameter Estimation

Estimation of parameters in P.D.E.'s is usually solved as a nonlinear optimization problem, whose cost function is the least square error between computed and recorded data. This requires che calculation of the gradient of the cost function by hand, which includes the determination of the adjoint equation to be solved and of the correlation formulas for the computation of the gradient; this step is often very demanding in human resources, as it involves long and intricate computations. In recent years, we have seen increasing interest in using computer-based symbolic and algebraic manipulation for automatically generating numerical programs. Our Gradpack software uses as input a set of discrete equations (state equations) and formulas (cost functions) derived from a parameter estimation problem in a P.D.E's; the responsability of the discretization of the problem is left totally to the user: Gradpack knows only the resulting set of discrete equations and formulas - this allows a wider range of potential application for the software. Gradpack converts then these equations and formulas automatically into a set of Fortran codes for the computaton of the cost function and its gradients. The generated code should be used with a Fortran-based linear system analysis package and an optimization package. The optimization of generated code is studied.

Automatic program generation from teaching data for the hybrid control of robots

An efficient method is developed to generate programs for the hybrid position/force control of robots from teaching data. An operator's motion is measured in terms of the force exerted by the operator and the position of the end-effector. The acquired data are then analyzed in order to understand what the operator intended to do, and necessary information is obtained to generate the hybrid control program. Determinations are made of which control mode, position or force, should be taken in each direction, how much force should be exerted, and what trajectory the end-effector should follow. The interpreted motion is then translated into a robot language, which explicitly describes the motion strategy that the human operator conceived. The method was implemented on a direct-drive arm and a personal computer, and the efficiency of the method was demonstrated through experiments. >