A specification of manufacturing processes for planning

Much research is being done on the automation of manufacturing processes. The planning component in the production stage is very significant, due to the variety of alternative processes, their complexity, and their interactions. This document describes a specification of some manufacturing processes, including the machining, joining, and finishing of parts. The aim of this specification is not to be comprehensive or detailed, but to present the AI community with a model of a complex and realistic application, and to use it to demonstrate the feasibility of effective implementations of large-scale complex domains in a general-purpose architecture. This specification has been successfully demonstrated in the PRODIGY architecture, and is one of the largest domains available for general-purpose planners. This research was sponsored by the Avionics Laboratory, Wright Research and Development Center, Aeronautical Systems Division (AFSC), U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-6543 under Contract F33615-90-C1465, ARPA Order No. 7597. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. government.