Assembly sequence planning for mechanical products

A method for assembly sequence planning is proposed in this paper. First, two methods for assembly sequence planning are compared, which are indirect method and direct method. Then, the limits of the previous assembly planning system are pointed out. On the basis of indirect method, an improved method for assembly sequence planning is put forward. This method is composed of four parts, which are assembly modeling for products, assembly sequence representing, assembly sequence planning, and evaluation and optimization. The assembly model is established by human machine interaction, and the assembly model contains components' information and the assembly relation among the components. The assembly sequence planning is based on the breaking up of the assembly model. And/or graph is used to represent assembly sequence set. Every component which satisfies the disassembly condition is recorded as a node of an and/or graph. After the disassembly sequence and/or graph is generated, heuristic algorithm AO * algorithm is used to search the disassembly sequence and/or graph, and the optimum assembly sequence planning is realized. This method is proved to be effective in a prototype system which is a sub project of a state 863/CIMS research project of China ‘Concurrent Engineering’.