An expert system for generation of machine inputs for laser-based multi-directional metal deposition

Laser-based multi-directional metal deposition (LBMDMD) is a very effective way of fabricating a part directly from its digital model. The method, however, requires a lot of human intervention during the process planning. Driven by already developed expert systems for the process planning in Computer Aided Design (CAD) and manufacturing, this paper intends to suggest a task framework for the automation of the process planning for LBMDMD using principles of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The process can be divided into distinct steps, and geometric reasoning can be applied to determine a set of facts and rules for the automation. The principles of first order logic are applied for the representation and further simplification of the process into a set of ‘‘if–then’’ based rules. This paper explains the framework, the facts, and the rule base used for the process planning. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.