Assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA

Abstract

The invention provides an assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA (computer-graphics aided three-dimensional interactive application). Comprising the steps that simulation resources are prepared, and technical state confirmation and lightweight format conversion are conducted on products, assembly parts and tool models; assembling path planning: planning a collision-free motion path from a starting point to an end point for the to-be-assembled part in the virtual environment; static interference inspection: detecting space overlap among all components of the assembly body in a non-motion state; dynamic interference detection: static interference detection is carried out on a part movement envelope and an external part, and the interference condition in the movement process is judged; and interference analysis output: outputting an analysis result in a visual highlight, data report and image / video form. Through systematized static and dynamic interference check processes, the problem of assembly interference of products in the design stage is effectively solved, and the design quality and the assembly efficiency are greatly improved. The method is suitable for being applied as a CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to interference detection in the field of virtual assembly, and in particular to an assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA. Background Technology

[0002] Interference detection is a core component of product assemblability inspection. Performing interference detection on product components in a virtual design environment allows for early verification of assemblability, fundamentally avoiding design rework, extended lead times, and increased costs caused by discovering problems only during physical prototype assembly.

[0003] Interference refers to two or more product components occupying the same spatial position at the same time, giving the components an unrealistic penetrability, causing the component being assembled to occupy the assembly space already occupied by other components, resulting in the component being unassembleable.

[0004] Interference simulation refers to the process of simulating the assembly of parts, components, or resources in a virtual environment, based on a pre-designed assembly process. This involves verifying the results of collisions with other parts, components, or resources, and simulating assembly interference situations where parts cannot reach their installation positions. When interference occurs, an alarm is triggered, and the interference area and magnitude are provided to help designers identify and analyze the causes of the interference.

[0005] However, in the process of implementing the inventive technical solution in the embodiments of this application, the inventors of this application discovered that the above-mentioned technology has at least the following technical problems: During assembly, effective inspection of the assembly path is crucial to ensuring the assembly is reasonable and feasible. The motion trajectory of the components is discretized, transforming the continuous motion state into several discrete key points along the assembly path. The static interference of the components under these discrete key states is then determined. The generalized scanned entity with the largest cross-section on the motion trajectory of the assembled product component is designated as virtual entity A. The intersection of virtual entity A and the assembly environment B is then calculated, and the interference situation is determined based on the intersection result.

[0006] The interference analysis module in CATIA software provides various tools for analyzing interference results and an Interference Results or Preview window for viewing these results. It can also save the results as XML and Text output formats. By utilizing the designed 3D model for simulated assembly, static interference checks, and dynamic interference checks, it addresses assembly interference problems that cannot be detected in advance during the design phase and that increase the workload for workers. This allows designers to identify and avoid most design errors through optimized observation, simplifying the determination of spatial relationships between parts and fundamentally preventing interference problems, thus significantly improving design quality and efficiency.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for an interference analysis method that can integrate various functions of CATIA, has a clear operation process, and provides intuitive results output, so as to systematically improve the reliability and efficiency of product design. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies and the problem of using CATIA for comprehensive static and dynamic inspection of assemblies and efficient output of analysis results, this application provides a CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method. This method integrates lightweight model processing, assembly path planning, static interference inspection, dynamic interference inspection, and result output through standardized process steps, achieving rapid, effective, and comprehensive detection of product assembly interference problems and resolving the technical issues related to assembly interference.

[0009] The solution adopted by the embodiments of this application to solve the technical problem is: An assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA includes the following steps: S1. Simulation resource preparation: Confirm the technical status of the product, assembly, and tooling models, and convert them into lightweight format models that can be recognized by CATIA; S2. Assembly Path Planning: In the CATIA virtual assembly environment, taking the parts to be assembled as objects, plan their collision-free motion path from the assembly start point to the end point, and determine their limited workspace. S3. Static Interference Check: In a non-motion state, run the interference check tool to detect whether there is spatial overlap between the components in the assembly and obtain the interference results; S4. Dynamic interference check: Generate a motion sweep envelope of the parts to be assembled based on the assembly path, and realize dynamic interference detection by checking the static interference between the sweep envelope and the external parts; S5. Interference Analysis Output: Output the interference results obtained in steps S3 and S4. The interference analysis output includes visualization output, data report output, and image / video output.

[0010] In order to further solve the technical problems to be solved by the embodiments of this application, in step 1 provided by the embodiments of this application, the lightweight format model in S1 is in .3dxml format or .cgr format, and the product model is not stored in .cgr format.

[0011] Furthermore, the assembly path planning in S2 specifically involves: within a large-scale environmental space containing all components, assembly tools, and equipment, determining a finite workspace for the component to be assembled. The pose space corresponding to this workspace is the assembly path planning space. By analyzing the positional relationship between the component and other objects in the workspace, a collision-free motion path is solved.

[0012] Furthermore, the static interference check in S3 includes: setting interference check parameters, defining interference types, performing analysis, and viewing the results. The interference types include hard interference, soft interference, and contact interference.

[0013] Furthermore, the dynamic interference check in S4 includes: selecting the interference calculation type and rule, wherein the calculation type includes "outside one selection", "all outside the selection", "between all components" or "between two selections"; generating a conflict list after calculation, and determining the distance, interference thickness or contact state between components based on the positive, negative or zero values ​​in the list.

[0014] Furthermore, the visualization output in S5 includes real-time highlighting, highlighting the interference parts in different colors in the 3D environment, dynamically marking the time and location of interference during the simulation, and viewing the internal interference through the section tool.

[0015] Furthermore, the data report output in S5 is in HTML or TXT format.

[0016] Positive effects: 1. Systematized Process: It provides a complete interference analysis process from data preparation to result output, standardizes the operation steps, and avoids arbitrariness and omissions in the inspection process.

[0017] 2. Comprehensive inspection: By combining static and dynamic interference inspection methods, it can detect design errors in a static state as well as path conflicts in motion, making the inspection more thorough.

[0018] 3. Increased Efficiency: By lightweighting the model and cleaning up empty geometry, the computational speed for interference checks on large-scale assemblies is significantly improved. Transforming dynamic detection into static volumetric inspection also reduces computational complexity.

[0019] 4. Visualized Results: Provides multiple output methods for results, especially the visual highlighting and dynamic marking, making interference problems clear at a glance and greatly facilitating designers in locating, analyzing, and solving problems.

[0020] It is suitable as an assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA. Attached Figure Description

[0021] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of this embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] Traditional interference checks rely heavily on designers' experience and observation or trial assembly of physical prototypes, which is inefficient and prone to omissions. While existing commercial software (such as CATIA) provides interference analysis capabilities, a complete and efficient solution remains lacking for how to systematically and procedurally utilize these functions to perform comprehensive static and dynamic checks on complex assemblies and efficiently output analysis results. This embodiment addresses this by lightweighting related models, performing path planning for the assembly, conducting static and dynamic interference checks, and finally analyzing the interference between the assembly and the product, thereby quickly and effectively generating interference analysis results.

[0025] As shown in the figure, this embodiment takes the assembly process of a product as an example and applies the interference analysis method of this embodiment. An assembly interference analysis method based on CATIA includes the following steps: Step 1: Prepare simulation resources. Process the product and assembly models, lightweighting them and saving them in CGR or 3DXML format. Open the software simulation module, click Start to enter the DPM-Assembly ProcessSimulation module, select Isert Product under Insert to import the corresponding parts, and select Isert Resources under Insert to import the corresponding assembly resources. Activate and select Process under the PPR structure tree, click the Create a MoveActivity button to create a simple motion. Two dialog boxes will pop up: Preview and Edit Shuttle. Select the part under the structure tree, enter a name in the Name field of the Edit Shuttle dialog box, and select the default values ​​for other options. Click OK, and the "Trace" dialog box, recorder toolbar, and player toolbar will appear.

[0026] Step 2: Assembly path planning. Activate collision detection; a red collision outline will be displayed when a collision occurs. Set the sweep envelope output path; shape names should be set to English names, as Chinese characters cannot be saved as filenames. Path analysis mainly uses the product's geometric model; deleting empty nodes in the structure tree helps improve the calculation speed of interference checks. Select all geometric shapes; empty geometric nodes will be unselected in the structure tree. Use the reverse button on the filtered selection toolbar to reverse the selection. Select the empty geometric node, right-click, and delete to optimize the product structure tree.

[0027] Step 3, Static Interference Check: Insert the saved swept envelope CGR model into the product model and use static interference check to inspect the assembly path. Start the interference check tool, set the check parameters, select the component or subassembly to be checked, set the interference detection accuracy and tolerance, and then define the interference type (hard interference, soft interference, contact, etc.). Next, run the check, perform interference analysis, and wait for the system to complete the calculation. When viewing the results, the interference areas will be highlighted, allowing you to understand the amount and specific location of the interference.

[0028] Step 4, Dynamic Interference Check: First, select the interference type. You can choose "Contact + Collision" or "Gap + Contact + Collision." For flexible interference analysis such as cables and connections, select the authorized "Through" type, or you can write your own collision / interference rules. Then, select the calculation type. You can choose "Outside One Selection," "All Outside One Selection," "Between All Components," or "Between Two Selections," where the two selections are the main product and the assembly, respectively. Next, click "Apply" to perform the interference check analysis and generate a collision list. A positive value represents the minimum distance between two components; a negative value represents a collision interference thickness between the two components; and a value of zero indicates that the two components are in contact at least once.

[0029] Step 5: Interference Analysis Output. After completing the simulation analysis, the system does not directly display the gap value immediately after calculation; it only displays the conflict type. Manually select each conflict point one by one, and the system will simultaneously calculate the value and display the interference situation in the "Preview" window. Confirm the "Status" and then click "OK". Select the analysis configuration module, select the defined interference item, select "Highlight" for the analysis level status, and select "On" for the monitoring status. Then click "OK" to complete the defined interference item. Activate the motion trajectory in the design simulation workflow, select "Process Simulation", set the simulation check time, and generate the "Analysis Information" list of interference occurring at simulation time points (i.e., the simulation time interference list). Finally, export the simulation time interference list.

[0030] Finally, it should be noted that: The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1.A CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method, characterized by comprising the following steps: S1. Simulation resource preparation: confirming the technical state of product, assembly parts and tooling models, and converting them into CATIA-recognizable lightweight format models; S2. Assembly path planning: in the CATIA virtual assembly environment, taking the parts to be assembled as the object, planning their collision-free motion path from the assembly starting point to the ending point, and determining their limited working space; S3. Static interference checking: in the non-motion state, running the interference checking tool to detect whether there is spatial overlap between the components in the assembly, and obtaining the interference results; S4. Dynamic interference checking: generating the motion swept envelope of the parts to be assembled according to the assembly path, and realizing dynamic interference detection by checking the static interference between the swept envelope and external parts; S5. Interference analysis output: outputting the interference results obtained in steps S3 and S4, and the interference analysis output includes visual output, data report output and image / video output. 2.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the lightweight format model in S1 is in.3dxml format or.cgr format, and the product model is not stored in.cgr format. 3.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the assembly path planning in S2 is specifically: in a large-scale environment space containing all parts, assembly tools and equipment, a limited working space is determined for the parts to be assembled, the pose space corresponding to the working space is the assembly path planning space, and the collision-free motion path is solved by analyzing the positional relationship between the parts and other objects in the working space. 4.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the static interference checking in S3 includes: setting interference checking parameters, defining interference types, executing analysis and viewing results, and the interference types include hard interference, soft interference and contact interference. 5.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the dynamic interference checking in S4 includes: selecting interference calculation types and rules, the calculation types include "one selection outside", "all outside the selection", "between all components" or "between two selections"; after calculation, a conflict list is generated, and the distance, interference thickness or contact state between parts is judged according to the positive, negative or zero values in the list. 6.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the visual output in S5 includes real-time highlighting, different color highlighting of interference parts in the 3D environment, dynamic marking of the time and position of interference occurrence during simulation, and viewing of internal interference through the cross-section tool. 7.The CATIA-based assembly interference analysis method according to claim 1, characterized in that: ​ The data report output in S5 is an HTML format report or a TXT format report.

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