The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Robert G Wilhelm

Kevin Scott Smith

Brian S Dutterer

Robert M Edgeworth

A manufacturing method, including: given a predetermined finished part geometry, providing a sacrificial structure preform that simultaneously contains the finished part geometry, minimizes material that must be removed from the sacrificial structure preform to achieve the finished part geometry during machining, and has a sufficient stiffness to resist a machining force that will be applied during machining without allowing the finished part geometry to be compromised; and machining the sacrificial structure preform to achieve the finished part geometry. The manufacturing method also includes preliminarily estimating a stiffness of the finished part geometry and the machining force that will be applied during machining.

Manufacturing methods and systems using sacrificial structure preforms

Systems and methods for estimating a systematic relationship between a plurality of points include determining an estimated systematic relationship representative of the plurality of points according to an estimation function and based on a given set of measured points. The estimated systematic relationship having coordinate data and normal vector data associated with the given set of points and corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of points. Further, an adaptive sampling mechanism may automatically determine whether further measurements are required based on the estimated systematic relationship and based on predetermined measurement criteria. Additionally, a data verification device may remove inaccurate data from the estimation process.

Systems and methods for adaptive sampling and estimating a systematic relationship between a plurality of points

The present invention discloses a method and system comprised of a combination of submethods and subsystems relating to the manufacture of parts. By these submethods and subsystems, the present invention discloses using part data, machine data, and tool data to create a recipe for the production of a part. Also included in the recipe is an optimal combination of machine and tooling derived from a database of machine and tooling performance measurements. Further included in the recipe are a process plan and production settings. A party can select or create a vendor by using the recipe and a database of vendor information. Also disclosed by the present invention is monitoring of the machining setup and production to ensure manufacture of the part according to the recipe. The present invention can be implemented in numerous methods and systems, including sales of the recipe and licensing of the part production according to the recipe.

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Charlotte, NC, United States of America

Robert G Wilhelm