Books received for review
Software for discrete manufacturing,
J P Crestin and J F McWaters (eds).
North-Holland (1986) pp 608
This comprises the proceedings of the
6th International IFIP/IFAC Conference on Software for Discrete Manufacturing (PROLAMAT 85), which
was held in Paris, France from 1 l t h 13th June 1985. The conference is a
triennial one and it concentrates on
manufacturing automation. There are
five main areas of interest:
• design and implementation of
CADCAM systems
•
computer-aided design
• computer-aided process and
production planning and optimization
• robotics and automated manufacturing systems
• artificial intelligence in CADCAM
Each area is introduced by an invited
paper. A further 44 submitted papers
are included. These were selected from
200 proposals and originate from 12
different countries. The papers cover
both the research being carried out
and some illustrations of industrial
applications.
What every engineer should know
about practical CA DCAM applications,
John Stark, Marcel Dekker Inc (1986)
pp 253
CADCAM selection, implementation
and applications in industry are
described in this 17th volume in the
What every engineer should know
series. It is particularly aimed at the
mechanical engineering environment.
It is divided into two sections: the first
describes how to select and implement
a CADCAM system and the second
overviews CADCAM applications in
industry. However a large part of part
two also examines the necessary
ingredients for a successful implementation of a CADCAM system as seen
through the experiences of firms
which have implemented such a
system. There is a 28 page glossary of
CADCAM terms and a three page
index.
504
Advances in CA DCA M workstations:
case studies, Peter C C Wang fed),
Klu war Academic Publishers (1986)
lap 274
There are 25 case studies described in
this book, many of which were
presented at the Symposium on Automation Technology held in Monterey,
CA, USA in February 1985. Applications of CADCAM workstations
ranging from electrical, mechanical
and architectural uses to solid modelling, finite element analysis and
simulations are discussed. Each of the
case studies has been written by a
different author, a short biography of
whom is given at the end of each paper.
Topics include drawing conversion,
computer integrated manufacturing,
personal workstations for CADCAM
and graphics standards.
Presentation graphics using GEM,
Stephen Morris, William Heinemann
Ltd (1986)
The Graphics Environment Manager
(GEM) from Digital Research
Corporation uses windows, icons and
pointers. GEM is intended for both
business users and programmers.
This book is intended as an introduction for people who will be working
with GEM and GEM based products.
It shows how GEM application
packages such as GEM Graph,
GEM Draw, GEM Paint and GEM
Wordchart can be used to produce
business presentation graphics in a
variety of ways.
Proceedings of the 5th European
conference on CA DCA M and
computer graphics, Hermes Publishing
(France) (1986) pp 819
This two volume work contains more
than 50 papers in either English or
French, which were originally given at
the 5th European conference on
CADCAM held in Paris, France from
24th-28th February 1986. The
papers cover software and hardware
design and development, industrial
uses of CADCAM and developments in
the construction and use of CADCAM
systems. It is divided into ten parts.
These include database and knowledge
bases, graphic software, graphic hardware, plenary session, CAD in electronics, architecture/construction
design, plant design, training and
human resources, an overview of
French and international related works,
and the evolution of CADCAM systems
structure.
Prolog, Francis Giannesini, Henry
Kanoui, Robert Pasero, Michel van
Caneghem, Addison- Wesley Publishing
Company (1986) pp 260
The experience of the Artificial
Intelligence Group at the University of
Aix-Marseilles is used in this book to
describe the latest Prolog II language
development at Marseilles. The book
can be divided into two parts, the first
of which simply illustrates the main
principles of Prolog programming by
means of gradual refinements to an
initial program. The second part of the
book considers Prolog applications,
such as compiler writing, natural
language understanding, databases and
expert systems. Comparisons between
Prolog II and two other versions:
microProlog and Edinburgh Prolog are
given in the appendices.
Prolog programming for artificial
intelligence, Ivan Bratko, Addison
Wesley Publishing Company (I 986)
Prolog and its application to artificial
intelligence problems is described in
this book. It is divided into two parts.
Part one introduces Prolog as a
practical programming tool and shows
how Prolog programs are developed.
Part two demonstrates the use of
Prolog when applied in some areas of
artificial intelligence. These areas
include problem solving and heuristic
search, expert systems, game playing
and pattern directed systems.
Exercises are given in the chapters and
their solutions are given in a section at
the end of the book.
computer-aided design