Visualising mechanical motion collisions

Visualisation 3D software ensures a continuous, collision-free assembly or extraction path to plan the optimal path of articulated (robots) or non-articulated (mechanical assembly) systems.

Kineo CAM of France has developed the Kineo Path Planner software package, which provides specialised support for CAD automatic motion planning.

Kineo Path Planner enables users to plan the optimal path of articulated (robots) or non-articulated (mechanical assembly) systems automatically in a 3D environment.

The software ensures a continuous, collision-free assembly or extraction path.

Because it can be integrated into existing design tools used by operators, Kineo Path Planner is able to provide innovative technological responses for the product design and digital model review phases.

The high level of integration offered by the tool means that all assembly, disassembly, maintenance and part interchangeability constraints for the automobile and aeronautics sectors are taken into account from the product design phase.

Up until now, path-planning tasks were performed by specialists in an interactive, manual fashion.

Today, Kineo Path Planner enables wide-scale deployment for non-expert users, transforming hours into minutes for tasks for which other solutions require much longer periods of time or else simply fail.

Kineo Path Planner can be used without any special parameters, allowing users to exploit and save the results of a calculation.

"Software packages that rely on traditional methods in the path-planning field have been less than convincing up until now".

"Let us compare calculation times as an example".

"We took the assembility/disassembility studies for certain engine strut and flap command components of the A340".

"For the engine strut components, with the tools used before, it would have taken us approximately two hours to determine the optimal path; Kineo did it in between two and five minutes, depending on the part".

"For the flap command parts, Kineo found the solution in just 35 seconds when it would have taken us two hours," states Airbus Digital Modelling Visualisation Methods Manager Ludovic Graux.

When reviewing the digital model - especially for aspects such as accessibility, ergonomics, manufacturing robotics and maintainability - Kineo Path Planner takes into account the different geometrics (collision avoidance) and kinematics-related constraints (the movement of a robot, for example).

Kineo Path Planner uses the latest probability-based motion planning technology: it automatically finds a solution with minimal calculation time, even for systems with various degrees of freedom in highly cluttered environments.

According to Peter Kinch, C3P Supervisor for Service Engineering Operations at Ford, "Using Kineo, we were quickly able to see where a design proposal prevented component removal in Service".

"Being able to communicate precise change information to Engineering led directly to a design modification and issue resolution".

"The ability to accurately assess and resolve Service issues early in the design phase is key to reducing repair costs and increasing customer satisfaction".

"The speed and accuracy of Kineo has enabled us to move from being a reactive force to a proactive one - a key challenge for any function in today's world of ever shorter development cycle times." Kineo Path Planner performs a detailed analysis of the paths obtained so that valuable design information can be exchanged with a view to putting forward in specific, accurate terms, the relevant design modifications.

The minimum configuration required is Pentium 4, 1 Gb Ram, OpenGL card, 2000/XP.

Kineo CAM sells Kineo Path Planner directly to end-users; the company is also in the process of setting up a global distribution network.

Kineo CAM will be present at the following conferences: Virtual Product Creation from 20 to 21 June 2005 in Stuttgart, Germany, and Mechanical Leaves Assembly Planning with Mannequins from 19 to 21 July in Montreal, Canada, part of the 6th IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Task Planning 2005.

* About Kineo CAM - Kineo CAM (Computer Aided Motion) specialises in the development and marketing of software solutions dedicated to automatic collision-free motion and path calculation.

The company was founded in December 2000 by robotics and artificial intelligence researchers from the Systems Architecture and Analysis Lab (LAAS) of France's prestigious National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a CAD software-industry specialist.

Kineo CAM offers a full range of 'off-the-shelf' solutions and also provides specialised development, engineering and consulting services.

The company's KineoWorks technology was used to simulate the transportation by road of sections of the Airbus A380, the largest commercial aircraft in the world.

The technology was used to validate the most challenging legs of the route to the final assembly facility in Toulouse, in south-west France.

IEE/IFR selected the Kineo application as one of the top three technological innovations of 2005.

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