Geometric bags patent for feature recognition technology

Nanda Kasabe

PUNE: Geometric Software Solutions Ltd. (GSSL), a leading provider of

software applications, has got the patent for its work on feature recognition

technology.

Feature recognition involves identification and classification of regions of

interest in a specific field. A mechanical engineer for instance would be

interested in features such as slots, holes, pockets, fillets, chamfers etc

since this information governs many tasks ranging from analysis to selection of

manufacturing process, to generating instructions for machining the part and

inspection.

The input to a feature recognizer is a solid model of the part, and the

output is a list of features present on the part along with their parameters

such as length, width, height, location and orientation.

Feature information can be used in many applications. Automatic or push

button machining is one of them. Such a tool is sought after by many mechanical

and manufacturing engineers and can be used to drastically reduce the

design-to-manufacturing cycle time.

Realizing the power and potential of such feature information, GSSL embarked

upon developing this technology in collaboration with Prof. Gurumurthy of Indian

Institute of Science (IISc). The initial work done at IISc was on faceted solid

models. GSSL built a robust Automatic Feature Recognition (AFR) technology over

state-of-the-art geometric kernels such as ACIS and Parasolid.

The AFR technology developed by GSSL operates on B-rep solid models. It

automatically identifies and groups topological entities such as faces of the

B-rep model into functionally significant features. An important characteristic

of the AFR technology developed by Geometric is that it supports domain

independent feature recognition.

GSSL is keen on develop AFR further. Ambitious enhancement plans include

support for interactive, user assisted identification of features, enhancement

of AFR to recognize axi-symmetric features and continuing collaborations with

research institutions to ensure that AFR is at the leading edge.