An Approach for PDES/STEP Compatible Concurrent Engineering Applications

An object-oriented approach to implement PDES/STEP compatible applications is proposed. To demonstrate the approach, a computer processable Assembly Application Protocol (AAP) is developed and documented as an object class structure and implemented in the form of a class library. The approach shows how (1) the PDES/STEP entities are used as building blocks of engineering information, (2) the EXPRESS language is used to model the PDES/STEP compatible data model, and (3) the application oriented data semantics can be embedded in a computer system. The AAP acts as a feature-based information model and persistent object data schema for CE assembly applications. The software tools used to implement the AAP are EXPRESS2C++ translator, C++ programming language, and ROSE database. The use of standard tools are shown to enhance the CE communication and research opportunities, based on the experience with the new generation international product definition and exchange standard, are suggested.