Presented in this paper is a method for the design of modular reconfigurable machine tools\n(MRMTs). An MRMT is capable of using a minimal number of modules through reconfiguration\nto perform the required machining tasks for a family of parts. The proposed method consists of\nthree steps: module identification, module determination, and layout synthesis. In the first step, the\nmodule components are collected from a family of general-purpose machines to establish a module\nlibrary. In the second step, for a given family of parts to be machined, a set of needed modules are\nselected from the module library to construct a desired reconfigurable machine tool. In the third step,\na final machine layout is decided though evaluation by considering a number of performance indices.\nBased on this method, a software package has been developed that can design an MRMT for a given\npart family.
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