Computer aided fixture design: Recent research and trends

Widely used in manufacturing, fixtures have a direct impact upon product manufacturing quality, productivity and cost, so much attention has already been paid to the research of computer aided fixture design (CAFD) and many achievements in this field have been reported. In this paper, a literature survey of computer aided fixture design and automation over the past decade is proposed. First, an introduction is given on the fixture applications in industry. Then, significant works done in the CAFD field, including their approaches, requirements and working principles are discussed. Finally, some prospective research trends are also discussed. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.