Method and system for managing aircraft parts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10037403-B2
Application number	US-201414153374-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2014
Priority date	Jan 13, 2014
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

A system and method for managing a desired part. A manufacturing system comprises a product lifecycle management tool configured to retrieve from a database based on a number of search parameters. The product lifecycle management tool is further configured to define, for each of retrieved part models, a prism having a volume that contains a volume of a part corresponding to the each of the retrieved part models. The product lifecycle management tool is further configured to display on a display system an assembly model including a three-dimensional view of candidate parts using the retrieved part models arranged in positions relative to each other. The candidate parts in the three-dimensional view are displayed in a side-by-side configuration in an order based on a number of characteristics of each prism such that a part model that most closely matches the desired part may be identified and selected for reuse.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for selecting a part that most closely matches a desired part from a plurality of part models, such that the system comprises:
a memory that comprises a database that comprises the plurality of part models for existing parts;
a user interface configured to receive input of a number of search parameters for the desired part;
a processor unit; and
product management software configured for execution by the processor unit and specially programed to:
retrieve part models from the database for existing parts based on the number of search parameters, the processor unit specially programed to:
define, for each of retrieved part models, a prism that comprises a volume that completely contains a volume of a part corresponding to the each of the retrieved part models;
receive acceptable deviations for each parameter of the number of search parameters, such that the acceptable deviations define a scaled part that comprises a maximum volume boundary for the desired part and a minimum volume boundary for the desired part;
select candidate parts from the retrieved part models, such that the candidate parts each comprise a total volume that lies between a total volume of the maximum volume boundary and a total volume of the minimum volume boundary;
eliminate, responsive to a shape analysis, a candidate part from the candidate parts based at least upon a portion of the minimum volume boundary for the desired part lying outside the candidate part, such that the shape analysis comprises:
a first Boolean logic subtraction of a shape, comprising the maximum volume boundary, of the desired part, from a shape of the candidate part; and
a second Boolean logic subtraction of the shape of the candidate part from a shape, comprising the minimum volume boundary, of the desired part; and

display, on a display system, an assembly model that comprises a three-dimensional view of remaining candidate parts that comprises the retrieved part models arranged in positions relative to each other, such that the display comprises the candidate parts in the three-dimensional view displayed in a side-by-side configuration along a global axis in an order, based on a number of characteristics of each prism, configured to identify a part model that most closely matches the desired part.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
either Boolean subtraction comprising a resultant;
the existing parts selected from existing parts for at least one of: an aircraft, a ground vehicle, a spacecraft, a vehicle, a train, a truck, a building, a bridge, an engine; and
the three-dimensional view comprises a format selected from at least one of: a virtual shelf, a virtual store, and a virtual warehouse.

3. A method for managing a desired part, the method comprising:
retrieving, using a number of search parameters for the desired part, part models for existing parts from a database, forming retrieved part models;
defining, for each part described by the retrieved part models, a prism respectively comprising a volume that completely contains a volume of a part corresponding to each of the retrieved part models;
receiving, in a specially programmed processor, acceptable deviations for each parameter of the number of search parameters, the acceptable deviations defining a scaled part comprising a maximum volume boundary for the desired part and a minimum volume boundary for the desired part;
selecting candidate parts from the retrieved part models, the candidate parts each comprising a total volume that lies between a total volume of the maximum volume boundary and a total volume of the minimum volume boundary;
eliminating, responsive to a shape analysis, a candidate part from the candidate parts based at least upon a portion of the minimum volume boundary for the desired part lying outside the candidate part, the shape analysis comprising:
subtracting, using a first Boolean logic, a shape, comprising a maximum volume boundary, of the desired part from a shape of the candidate part; and
subtracting, using a second Boolean logic, the shape of the candidate part from a shape, comprising the minimum volume boundary, of the desired part;

displaying, using a number of characteristics of each prism such that a part model that most closely matches the desired part, on a display system, an assembly model comprising a three-dimensional view of the remaining candidate parts arranged in a side-by-side configuration along a global axis in an order identifying the desired part; and
selecting, using input from a user, a part model for the desired part from the three-dimensional view of the remaining candidate parts, such that the desired part comprises a selected part model.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
the shape analysis comprising either Boolean subtraction comprising a resultant; and
manufacturing the desired part using the selected part model.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
the shape analysis comprising at least one of:
a boundary of the shape of the candidate part lying outside the maximum volume boundary, or the minimum volume boundary lying outside a boundary of the shape of the candidate part; and
the number of search parameters comprising at least one of a volume, a material, dimensions, a part type, or a part number for the desired part.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
generating a desired part model for the desired part; and
selecting the desired part model for the desired part as one of the number of search parameters.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein retrieving the part models comprises:
identifying a number of volumes for the desired part; and
identifying a shape of the desired part.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
identifying a volume for each of the existing parts described by part models in the database; and
determining whether the volume of the each of the existing parts corresponds to the number of volumes for the desired part.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
identifying the shape of the each of the existing parts described by the part models in the database;
determining whether the shape of the each of the existing parts described by the part models corresponds to the shape of the desired part; and
populating the candidate parts using the retrieved part models from the part models in the database based on whether the volume and the shape of the each of the existing parts corresponds to the volume and the shape of the desired part.

10. The method of claim 3 , wherein displaying the assembly model comprises:
identifying a global axis to position the candidate parts in the three-dimensional view relative to each other; and
identifying a local axis for the each prism corresponding to each of the candidate parts using the retrieved part models.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
positioning the candidate parts in the three-dimensional view relative to each other in the assembly model along the global axis based on the local axis of a corresponding prism.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein displaying the assembly model comprises a format selected from at least one of: a virtual shelf, a virtual store, and a virtual warehouse.

13. The method of claim 3 , wherein the number of characteristics is selected from at least one of a volume, a diameter, a length, or an area of a side.

14. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
displaying, on the display system, information about the candidate parts displayed in the three-dimensional view.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the informatio

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Young Stephen Michael
• Davison Carl Aaron

Classifications

• G06F30/17 Primary

  Mechanical parametric or variational design · CPC title

• G06F30/15 Primary

  Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design · CPC title

• G06F17/5095

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/5086 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic