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Tooling Planner

1. Tool Selection: For a given part it selects bending tools (i.e., punches, dies, punch holders, and die holders). Tool selection is done by determining the most likely shape of workpiece for various bending operations and selecting the minimal tool set (i.e., having the minimum number of tool types) that works for these intermediate workpiece shapes.
2. Constraint Generation: For a given part and a set of bending tools, it identifies the tooling-imposed ordering constraints on various bending operations. These constraints are used for eliminating bend sequences that will result in interference problems between the tools and the workpiece. This step is performed by identifying various features (i.e., collections of bends) in the part that impose ordering constraints and generating constraints associated with these features.
3. Operation Sequence Feasibility: For a given operation sequence, it identifies whether or not the operation sequence is feasible. This step is performed by constructing intermediate part shapes and 3D tool models and intersecting them to identify any interference problems.
4. Setup Planning: For a given operation sequence, it identifies the best possible press-brake setup (i.e., which tool should be positioned where on the press-brake). This step is performed by identifying setup constraints for every bending operation and using a constraint propagation technique to create press-brake setups which satisfy setup constraints for every bending operation.

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