Generation of optimum sequence of operations using ant colony algorithm

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) forms an important interface between computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). It is concerned with determining the sequence of individual manufacturing operations required to produce a product as per technical specifications given in the part drawing. In this paper the process planning is modelled as a combinatorial optimisation problem with constraints, and an ant colony optimisation (ACO) approach has been used to solve it. This is a newly developed metaheuristic algorithm used as a global search technique for the quick identification of the optimal operations sequence by considering various feasibility constraints.