This paper proposes a framework that utilises robotic process automation (RPA) technologies within the additive manufacturing (AM) design workflow to make the product development process more efficient. A commercial RPA platform is employed to create an automated workflow, which is capable of considering multiple AM process configurations. The main objective is to ensure that AM process cost and time requirements may be reliably calculated for any Computer-Aided Design (CAD) part model and multiple process configurations via simulation, with minimal human interaction. The proposed automated workflow was tested on a realistic case scenario and was compared against a standard conventional AM workflow.

本文提出了一个框架，该框架在增材制造 (AM) 设计工作流程中利用机器人过程自动化 (RPA) 技术来提高产品开发过程的效率。采用商业 RPA 平台来创建自动化工作流程，该工作流程能够考虑多种 AM 流程配置。主要目标是确保可以通过模拟为任何计算机辅助设计 (CAD) 零件模型和多个工艺配置可靠地计算增材制造工艺成本和时间要求，并将人工交互降至最低。建议的自动化工作流程在真实案例场景中进行了测试，并与标准的传统 AM 工作流程进行了比较。