A rule based expert system for rapid prototyping system selection

The availability of a growing number of rapid prototyping (RP) systems with wide ranging capabilities has created a problem of selecting an appropriate RP system for industry as well as educational sector to suit their requirements. This paper presents an expert system based RP system selection program incorporating 39 RP systems commercially available from 21 RP manufacturers worldwide. The program allows the user to choose one of the four options, namely, quick selection, detailed selection, build technology or machine style for system selection, with each option considering a systematic selection criteria. The program is a rule based expert system, and recommends the RP system along with its full specifications on the basis of interactive question-answer session with the user. The system is believed to be the first expert system based RP selection program and has the potential for future expansion into a full-fledged RP selector system. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.