Fabrication rules based automated design and manufacturing system and method

摘要

An automated custom power supply design system uses an expert system containing a set of rules, including manufacturing limitations to limit design choices and ensure feasibility and manufacturability of the design. A design interface collects specifications from a user. A complement of power components for satisfying the electrical specifications is defined and mechanical specifications for each component are provided by the system for use in creating the mechanical design. After the mechanical design is established a thermal analysis is performed and the completed design is returned to a host computer. After an order is received, a computer integrated manufacturing system generates all of the specifications required to manufacture the components for the system and the system.