This paper addresses the question of what geometric objects can be designed and manufactured with a CAD/CAM system and especially what geometric objects can be approximated by those produced with a CAD/CAM system. For a class of simple material removal processes (cut and discard finitely many times), the answer is that all closed convex subsets of the workpiece can be approximated, in a sense that is related to tolerances. Implications for cost functions and for incremental design and manufacture are discussed.
| Number of Pages : | 6 |
| Published : | 11/01/1999 |
