manufacturability
Neural Co-Optimization of Structural Topology, Manufacturable Layers, and Path Orientations for Fiber-Reinforced Composites
Liu, Tao, Zhang, Tianyu, Chen, Yongxue, Wang, Weiming, Jiang, Yu, Huang, Yuming, Wang, Charlie C. L.
We propose a neural network-based computational framework for the simultaneous optimization of structural topology, curved layers, and path orientations to achieve strong anisotropic strength in fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites while ensuring manufacturability. Our framework employs three implicit neural fields to represent geometric shape, layer sequence, and fiber orientation. This enables the direct formulation of both design and manufacturability objectives - such as anisotropic strength, structural volume, machine motion control, layer curvature, and layer thickness - into an integrated and differentiable optimization process. By incorporating these objectives as loss functions, the framework ensures that the resultant composites exhibit optimized mechanical strength while remaining its manufacturability for filament-based multi-axis 3D printing across diverse hardware platforms. Physical experiments demonstrate that the composites generated by our co-optimization method can achieve an improvement of up to 33.1% in failure loads compared to composites with sequentially optimized structures and manufacturing sequences.
Differentiable Edge-based OPC
Chen, Guojin, Yang, Haoyu, Ren, Haoxing, Yu, Bei, Pan, David Z.
Optical proximity correction (OPC) is crucial for pushing the boundaries of semiconductor manufacturing and enabling the continued scaling of integrated circuits. While pixel-based OPC, termed as inverse lithography technology (ILT), has gained research interest due to its flexibility and precision. Its complexity and intricate features can lead to challenges in mask writing, increased defects, and higher costs, hence hindering widespread industrial adoption. In this paper, we propose DiffOPC, a differentiable OPC framework that enjoys the virtue of both edge-based OPC and ILT. By employing a mask rule-aware gradient-based optimization approach, DiffOPC efficiently guides mask edge segment movement during mask optimization, minimizing wafer error by propagating true gradients from the cost function back to the mask edges. Our approach achieves lower edge placement error while reducing manufacturing cost by half compared to state-of-the-art OPC techniques, bridging the gap between the high accuracy of pixel-based OPC and the practicality required for industrial adoption, thus offering a promising solution for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
Text2Robot: Evolutionary Robot Design from Text Descriptions
Ringel, Ryan P., Charlick, Zachary S., Liu, Jiaxun, Xia, Boxi, Chen, Boyuan
For over half a century, robot design has been a costly and labor-intensive process, requiring extensive human efforts from initial sketches to detailed modeling, prototyping, controller design, manufacturing, and testing. This traditional approach has significant limitations, such as prohibitive costs, lengthy development cycles, and constraints on innovation bounded by human imagination and manual capabilities. However, advancements in automated robot design [1, 2, 3, 4] promise to revolutionize this landscape. By automating key aspects Figure 1: Text2Robot creates physical robots of the design process, we can drastically reduce from user-specified text prompts and performance development time and costs, allowing industries preferences while considering realworld to rapidly produce specialized robots and enabling electronics and manufacturability.
A versatile robotic hand with 3D perception, force sensing for autonomous manipulation
Correll, Nikolaus, Kriegman, Dylan, Otto, Stephen, Watson, James
We describe a force-controlled robotic gripper with built-in tactile and 3D perception. We also describe a complete autonomous manipulation pipeline consisting of object detection, segmentation, point cloud processing, force-controlled manipulation, and symbolic (re)-planning. The design emphasizes versatility in terms of applications, manufacturability, use of commercial off-the-shelf parts, and open-source software. We validate the design by characterizing force control (achieving up to 32N, controllable in steps of 0.08N), force measurement, and two manipulation demonstrations: assembly of the Siemens gear assembly problem, and a sensor-based stacking task requiring replanning. These demonstrate robust execution of long sequences of sensor-based manipulation tasks, which makes the resulting platform a solid foundation for researchers in task-and-motion planning, educators, and quick prototyping of household, industrial and warehouse automation tasks.
Learning and Visualizing Localized Geometric Features Using 3D-CNN: An Application to Manufacturability Analysis of Drilled Holes
Ghadai, Sambit, Balu, Aditya, Krishnamurthy, Adarsh, Sarkar, Soumik
3D Convolutional Neural Networks (3D-CNN) have been used for object recognition based on the voxelized shape of an object. However, interpreting the decision making process of these 3D-CNNs is still an infeasible task. In this paper, we present a unique 3D-CNN based Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping method (3D-GradCAM) for visual explanations of the distinct local geometric features of interest within an object. To enable efficient learning of 3D geometries, we augment the voxel data with surface normals of the object boundary. We then train a 3D-CNN with this augmented data and identify the local features critical for decision-making using 3D GradCAM. An application of this feature identification framework is to recognize difficult-to-manufacture drilled hole features in a complex CAD geometry. The framework can be extended to identify difficult-to-manufacture features at multiple spatial scales leading to a real-time design for manufacturability decision support system.
Learning Localized Geometric Features Using 3D-CNN: An Application to Manufacturability Analysis of Drilled Holes
Balu, Aditya, Ghadai, Sambit, Lore, Kin Gwn, Young, Gavin, Krishnamurthy, Adarsh, Sarkar, Soumik
In this paper, we present a 3D-CNN based method to learn distinct local geometric features of interest within an object. In this context, the voxelized representation may not be sufficient to capture the distinguishing information about such local features. To enable efficient learning, we augment the voxel data with surface normals of the object boundary. We then train a 3D-CNN with this augmented data and identify the local features critical for decision-making using 3D gradient-weighted class activation maps. An application of this feature identification framework is to recognize difficult-to-manufacture drilled hole features in a complex CAD geometry. The framework can be extended to identify difficult-to-manufacture features at multiple spatial scales leading to a real-time decision support system for design for manufacturability.
A fuzzy set AHP-based DFM tool for rotational parts
Design for manufacturability (DFM) requires product designers to simultaneously consider the manufacturing issues of a product along with the geometrical and design aspects. This paper reports a computer-aided DFM tool for product designers to evaluate the manufacturability of their designs. A fuzzy set-based manufacturability evaluation algorithm is formulated to generate relative manufacturability indices (MIs) to provide product designers with a better understanding of the relative ease or difficulty of machining the features in their designs. This computer-aided DFM system is developed for rotational parts. The MI of machining a part is decomposed into three components, namely, the support index, the clamping index, and the feature index.