Automated concurrent engineering in Designworld

Abstract

Designworld, an automated engineering system for digital circuits built from standard parts, is described. The system has integrated support for various phases in a product's life cycle, from design, through manufacture, to maintenance. The design for a product is entered into the system through a multimedia design workstation. The product is automatically built by a dedicated robotic cell. If necessary, the product, once built, can be returned to the system for automatic diagnosis and repair. Designworld's agent-based framework, implementation, and support of concurrent engineering are described.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>