Quantitative optimization of interoperability during feature-based data exchange

Sharing feature-based computer-aided design (CAD) models is a challenging problem that is frequently encountered among heterogeneous CAD systems. In this work, a new asymmetric strategy is presented to enrich the theory of feature-based interoperability, particularly when addressing a singular feature or singular sketch. This paper analyzes the semantic asymmetry singular feature interoperability (SA-SFI) and parameter asymmetry singular sketch interoperability (PA-SSI) in detail. We pay special attention to the problem of PA-SSI, which is universally significant in collaborative product development (CPD). The objective of PA-SSI is to develop an optimized model to exchange a singular sketch (spline) to ensure that the exchanged model both maintains high geometric fidelity and can be effectively edited in the target CAD system. The proposed method applies the estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) to automatically solve this problem, and a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is built according to the promising solutions. Furthermore, Hausdorff distance is adopted to calculate the fitness, and a local optimization operator is designed to enhance the global search capability of the population. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can maintain a sufficiently high geometric fidelity, and ensure that the exchanged model of the target CAD system can be parametrically edited.