Recent advances in the digitization of manufacturing have prompted ASME and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards committees to reexamine the definition of datums. Any new definition of datums considered by the standards committees should cover all datum feature types used in design and support both traditional metrological methods and new digital measurement techniques. This is a challenging task that requires some careful compromise. This paper describes and analyzes various alternatives considered by the standards committees. Among them is a new mathematical definition of datums based on constrained least-squares fitting. It seems to provide the best compromise and has the potential to support advanced manufacturing that is increasingly dependent on digital technologies.

Recently, The number and types of measurement devices that collect data that is used to monitor Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion of Metals processes and inspect Additive Manufacturing (AM) metal parts have increased rapidly. Each measurement device generates data in a unique coordinate system and in a unique format. Data alignment is the process of spatially aligning different datasets to a single coordinate system. It is part of a broader process called "Data Registration". This paper provides a data-registration procedure and includes an example of aligning data to a single, reference, coordinate system. Such a reference coordinate system is needed for downstream applications, including data analytic, artificial intelligence, and part qualification.

Despite the huge efforts to deploy wireless communications technologies in smart manufacturing scenarios, some manufacturing sectors are still slow to massive adoption. This slowness of widespread adoption of wireless technologies in cyber-physical systems (CPS) is partly due to not fully understanding the detailed impact of wireless deployment on the physical processes especially in the cases that require low latency and high reliability communications. In this paper, we introduce an approach to integrate wireless network traffic data and physical processes data in order to evaluate the impact of wireless communications on the performance of a manufacturing factory work-cell. The proposed approach is introduced through the discussion of an engineering use case. A testbed that emulates a robotic manufacturing factory work-cell is constructed using two collaborative-grade robot arms, machine emulators, and wireless communication devices. All network traffic data is collected and physical process data, including the robots and machines states and various supervisory control commands, is also collected and synchronized to the network data. The data is then integrated where redundant data is removed and correlated activities are connected in a graph database. A data model is proposed, developed, and elaborated; the database is then populated with events from the testbed, and the resulting graph is presented. Query commands are then presented as a means to examine and analyze network performance and relationships within the components of the network. Moreover, we detail the way by which this approach is used to study the impact of wireless communications on the physical processes and illustrate the impact of various wireless network parameters on the performance of the emulated manufacturing work-cell. This approach can be deployed as a building block for various descriptive and predictive wireless analysis tools for CPS.

We present a unified method for numerical evaluation of volume, surface, and path integrals of smooth, bounded functions on implicitly defined bounded domains. The method avoids both the stochastic nature (and slow convergence) of Monte Carlo methods and problem-specific domain decompositions required by most traditional numerical integration techniques. Our approach operates on a uniform grid over an axis-aligned box containing the region of interest, so we refer to it as a grid-based method. All grid-based integrals are computed as a sum of contributions from a stencil computation on the grid points. Each class of integrals (path, surface, or volume) involves a different stencil formulation, but grid-based integrals of a given class can be evaluated by applying the same stencil on the same set of grid points; only the data on the grid points changes. When functions are defined over the continuous domain so that grid refinement is possible, grid-based integration is supported by a convergence proof based on wavelet analysis. Given the foundation of function values on a uniform grid, grid-based integration methods apply directly to data produced by volumetric imaging (including computed tomography and magnetic resonance), direct numerical simulation of fluid flow, or any other method that produces data corresponding to values of a function sampled on a regular grid. Every step of a grid-based integral computation (including evaluating a function on a grid, application of stencils on a grid, and reduction of the contributions from the grid points to a single sum) is well suited for parallelization. We present results from a parallelized CUDA implementation of grid-based integrals that faithfully reproduces the output of a serial implementation but with significant reductions in computing time. We also present example grid-based integral results to quantify convergence rates associated with grid refinement and dependence of the convergence rate on the specific choice of difference stencil (corresponding to a particular genus of Daubechies wavelet).

Robotic bin picking requires using a perception system to estimate the pose of the parts in the bin. The selected singulation plan should be robust with respect to perception uncertainties. If the estimated posture is significantly different from the actual posture, then the singulation plan may fail during execution. In such cases, the singulation process will need to be repeated. We are interested in selecting singulation plans that minimize the expected task completion time. In order to estimate the expected task completion time for a proposed singulation plan, we need to estimate the probability of success and the plan execution time. Robotic bin picking needs to be done in real-time. Therefore, candidate singulation plans need to be generated and evaluated in real-time. This paper presents an approach for utilizing computationally efficient simulations for generating singulation plans. Results from physical experiments match well with predictions obtained from simulations.

The need for capturing knowledge in the digital form in design, process planning, production, and inspection has increasingly become an issue in manufacturing industries as the variety and complexity of product lifecycle applications increase. Both knowledge and data need to be well managed for quality assurance, lifecycle-impact assessment, and design improvement. Some technical barriers exist today that inhibit industry from fully utilizing design, planning, processing, and inspection knowledge. The primary barrier is a lack of a well-accepted mechanism that enables users to integrate data and knowledge. This paper prescribes knowledge management to address a lack of mechanisms for integrating, sharing, and updating domain-specific knowledge in smart manufacturing. Aspects of the knowledge constructs include conceptual design, detailed design, process planning, material property, production, and inspection. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a methodology on what knowledge manufacturing organizations access, update, and archive in the context of smart manufacturing. The case study in this paper provides some example knowledge objects to enable smart manufacturing.

Industry has been chasing the dream of integrating and linking data across the product lifecycle and enterprises for decades. However, industry has been challenged by the fact that the context in which data is used varies based on the function / role in the product lifecycle that is interacting with the data. Holistically, the data across the product lifecycle must be considered an unstructured data-set because multiple data repositories and domain-specific schema exist in each phase of the lifecycle. This paper explores a concept called the Lifecycle Information Framework and Technology (LIFT). LIFT is a conceptual framework for lifecycle information management and the integration of emerging and existing technologies, which together form the basis of a research agenda for dynamic information modeling in support of digital-data curation and reuse in manufacturing. This paper provides a discussion of the existing technologies and activities that the LIFT concept leverages. Also, the paper describes the motivation for applying such work to the domain of manufacturing. Then, the LIFT concept is discussed in detail, while underlying technologies are further examined and a use case is detailed. Lastly, potential impacts are explored.

Exchange and reuse of three-dimensional (3D)-product models are hampered by the absence of trust in product-lifecycle-data quality. The root cause of the missing trust is years of "silo" functions (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, quality assurance) using independent and disconnected processes. Those disconnected processes result in data exchanges that do not contain all of the required information for each downstream lifecycle process, which inhibits the reuse of product data and results in duplicate data. The X.509 standard, maintained by the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T), was first issued in 1988. Although originally intended as the authentication framework for the X.500 series for electronic directory services, the X.509 framework is used in a wide range of implementations outside the originally intended paradigm. These implementations range from encrypting websites to software-code signing, yet X.509 certificate use has not widely penetrated engineering and product realms. Our approach is not trying to provide security mechanisms, but equally as important, our method aims to provide insight into what is happening with product data to support trusting the data. This paper provides a review of the use of X.509 certificates and proposes a solution for embedding X.509 digital certificates in 3D models for authentication, authorization, and traceability of product data. This paper also describes an application within the Aerospace domain. Finally, the paper draws conclusions and provides recommendations for further research into using X.509 certificates in product lifecycle management (PLM) workflows to enable a product lifecycle of trust.

Engineering information systems play an important role in the current era of digitization of manufacturing, which is a key component to enable smart manufacturing. Traditionally, these engineering information systems spanned the lifecycle of a product by providing interoperability of software subsystems through a combination of open and proprietary exchange of data. But research and development efforts are underway to replace this paradigm with engineering information that can be composed dynamically to meet changing needs in the operation of smart manufacturing systems. This paper describes the opportunities and challenges in architecting such engineering information services and composing them to enable smarter manufacturing.

A number of manufacturing companies have reported anecdotal evidence describing the benefits of Model-Based Enterprise (MBE). Based on this evidence, major players in industry have embraced a vision to deploy MBE. In our view, the best chance of realizing this vision is the creation of a single "digital thread." Under MBE, there exists a Model-Based Definition (MBD), created by the Engineering function, that downstream functions reuse to complete Model-Based Manufacturing and Model-Based Inspection activities. The ensemble of data that enables the combination of model-based definition, manufacturing, and inspection defines this digital thread. Such a digital thread would enable real-time design and analysis, collaborative process-flow development, automated artifact creation, and full-process traceability in a seamless real-time collaborative development among project participants. This paper documents the strengths and weaknesses in the current, industry strategies for implementing MBE. It also identifies gaps in the transition and/or exchange of data between various manufacturing processes. Lastly, this paper presents measured results from a study of model-based processes compared to drawing-based processes and provides evidence to support the anecdotal evidence and vision made by industry.

Combinations of graphics and haptics libraries are used in medical simulations for simultaneous visualization and tactile interaction with complex 3D anatomy models. The minimum frame rate of 1 kHz for haptics rendering makes it a nontrivial problem when dealing with complex and highly detailed polygonal models. Multiple haptics algorithms based on polygonal mesh rendering, volume haptics, and intermediate representation are evaluated in terms of their servoloop rendering time, client thread rendering time, and quality of force feedback. Algorithms include OpenHaptics' Feedback Buffer and Depth Buffer, GodObject and Ruspini renderers in h3d, chai3d implementation in h3d, ScalarSurfaceFriction mode in Volume Haptics ToolKit (vhtk), and the authors' intermediate representation algorithm based on volumetric data. The latter, in combination with surface graphics visualization, is found to deliver the best rendering time, to detect all collisions and to provide correct haptic feedback where other algorithms fail.

Trust in product-data quality (PDQ) is critical to successful implementation of model-based enterprise (MBE). Such trust does not extend to the exchange and reuse of three-dimensional (3D)-product models across the product lifecycle because verifiable traceability in product data is lacking. This assurance is especially crucial when "siloed" manufacturing functions produce product data that is not fully interoperable and thus requires frequent reworking to enable reuse. Previous research showed how Public Key Infrastructure (X.509-PKI) from the X.509 standard could be used to embed digital signatures into product data for the purposes of certification and traceability. This paper first provides an overview and review of technologies that could be integrated to support trust throughout the product lifecycle. The paper then proposes a trust structure that supports several data-transaction types. Next, the paper presents a case study for common configuration management (CM) workflows that are typically found in regulated industries. Finally, the paper draws conclusions and provides recommendations for further research for enabling the product lifecycle of trust (PLOT).

Smart manufacturing promises to provide significant increases in productivity and effectiveness of manufacturing systems by better connecting the data from people, processes, and things. However, there is no uniform, generalized method for deploying linked-data concepts to the manufacturing domain. The literature describes and commercial vendors offer centralized data repository solutions, but these types of approaches quickly breakdown under the intense burden of managing and reconciling all the data flowing in and out of the various repositories across the product lifecycle. In this paper, we introduce a method for linking and tracing data throughout the product lifecycle using graphs to form digital threads. We describe a prototype implementation of the method and a case study to demonstrate an information round-trip for a product assembly between the design, manufacturing, and quality domains of the product lifecycle. The expected impact from this novel, standards-based, linked-data method is the ability to use digital threads to provide data, system, and viewpoint interoperability in the deployment of smart manufacturing to realize industry's $30 Billion annual opportunity.

Manufacturing industries are increasingly adopting additive manufacturing (AM) technologies to produce functional parts in critical systems. However, the inherent complexity of both AM designs and AM processes render them attractive targets for cyber-attacks. Risk-based Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) security guidance standards are useful resources for AM security practitioners, but the guidelines they provide are insufficient without additional AM-specific revisions. Therefore, a structured layering approach is needed to efficiently integrate these revisions with preexisting IT and OT security guidance standards. To implement such an approach, this paper proposes leveraging the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) to develop layered, risk-based guidance for fulfilling specific security outcomes. It begins with an in-depth literature review that reveals the importance of AM data and asset management to risk-based security. Next, this paper adopts the CSF asset identification and management security outcomes as an example for providing AM-specific guidance and identifies the AM geometry and process definitions to aid manufacturers in mapping data flows and documenting processes. Finally, this paper uses the Open Security Controls Assessment Language to integrate the AM-specific guidance together with existing IT and OT security guidance in a rigorous and traceable manner. This paper's contribution is to show how a risk-based layered approach enables the authoring, publishing, and management of AM-specific security guidance that is currently lacking. The authors believe implementation of the layered approach would result in value-added, non-redundant security guidance for AM that is consistent with the preexisting guidance.