Straight lines, or G01 blocks, are the most widespread representation form for the tool path in CNC machining. At the junctions between consecutive segments, the tangency and curvature discontinuities may lead to feedrate fluctuation and acceleration oscillation, which would deteriorate the machining efficiency and quality. To solve this problem, a real-time path-smoothing method is proposed, which adopts a curvature-continuous B-spline with five control points to blend the adjacent straight lines. The advantage of the transition scheme is that, G2 continuity, analytical calculation of the curvature extrema, approximation error control and real-time performance are considered simultaneously. Then, a bidirectional scanning algorithm for jerk limited S-shape feedrate profile is proposed to evaluate the feedrate constraints. On this basis, a real-time look-ahead scheme, which comprises of path-smoothing, bidirectional scanning and feedrate scheduling, is developed to acquire a feedrate profile with smooth acceleration. Also, an arc-length based interpolation algorithm for mixed linear and parametric segments is proposed to overcome the difficulty of crossing different segments. With these schemes, the smoothness of both tool path and feedrate is guaranteed. Simulation and experiments on an X–Y–Z platform are conducted. The results demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the present algorithms.

A real-time look-ahead interpolation methodology with curvature-continuous B-spline transition scheme for CNC machining of short line segments

In the domain of manufacturing, computer numerically controllers (CNC) technology is a major contributor to the production capacity of the enterprises. The advances in CNC technology coupled with enhancements in computing systems have provided the basis to re-examine the way in which computer-aided systems (CAx) can be used to enable global manufacturing. Interoperability of the various components of the CAx chain is therefore a major prerequisite for manufacturing enterprises for becoming strategically agile and consequently globally competitive. Being interoperable, resources can be utilized interchangeably in a plug-and-produce manner. Over the last 8 years the eminence of a STEP standard for machining entitled STEP-NC (numerical control) has become a well-known vehicle for research to improve the level of information availability at the CNC machine tool. In this paper, the authors introduce the background to the evolution of CNC manufacturing over the last 50 years and the current standards available for programming. A review of the literature in interoperable CNC manufacturing is then provided relating to milling, turn-mill and other NC processes. The major part of the paper provides a strategic view of how interoperability can be implemented across the CAx chain with a range of standards used to regulate the flow of information. Finally, the paper outlines the advantages and major issues for future developments in interoperability, identifying future key requirements and limiting factors.

Strategic advantages of interoperability for global manufacturing using CNC technology

This study proposes the use of a real-time non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) interpolator with a look-ahead function to handle numerous short linear segments. The short linear segments conforming to the continuous short block (CSB) criterion can be fitted into NURBS curves in real time. A modified maximum feedrate equation based on the geometric characteristics of the fitting curves and the dynamics of the servo control system has been derived in this paper. Taking advantage of the multi-thread design and the look-ahead function, the real-time NURBS interpolator can process enough G01 block information and complete feedrate planning before interpolation. In addition, the S-shaped jerk-limited acceleration method is adopted for smoother feedrate profiles. Two part shapes, which possess more than 1,000 short linear segments, are tested on our PC-based real-time control system. Both simulation and experimental results verify the feasibility and precision of the proposed interpolation algorithm.

Real-time NURBS interpolator: application to short linear segments

Tight quality requirements and stringent customer demands are the main thrust behind the development of new generation machine tool controllers that are more universal, adaptable and interoperable. The development of some international standards such as STEP and STEP-NC presents a vision for intelligent CNC machining. Implementation of STEP-NC enabled Machine Condition Monitoring (MCM) is presented in this paper. The system allows optimisation during machining in order to shorten machining time and increase product quality. In the system, an optiSTEP-NC, an AECopt controller and a Knowledge-Based Evaluation (KBE) module have been developed. The aim of the optiSTEP-NC system is to perform initial feed-rate optimisation based on STEP-NC data to assist process planners in assigning appropriate machining parameters. AECopt acts as a connector between the process planner and machining environment with the intention to provide adaptive and automatic in-process machining optimisation. KBE based-MTConnect is responsible for obtaining machining know-how. Optimisation is performed before, during or after machining operations, based on the data collected and monitored such as machining vibration, acceleration and jerk, cutting power and feed-rate.

Advanced CNC system with in-process feed-rate optimisation

Five-axis linear toolpaths (or G 01 blocks) are widely used in CNC machine tools. The tangential and curvature discontinuities at the corners of linear toolpath result in feed fluctuation and deteriorate the machining efficiency and quality. Several methods have been proposed to locally smooth the corners for three-axis toolpath, but local smoothing for five-axis toolpath is still challenging due to two main difficulties: control of the tool orientation smoothing error and parameter synchronization between tool position and tool orientation. This paper proposes a real-time G 2 continuous local smoothing method by replacing the corners of tool position and tool orientation paths with cubic B-splines. The two difficulties in five-axis local smoothing are both resolved in simple and analytical ways. With a two-step method, the tool orientation smoothing error is directly and analytically constrained. By converting the remaining linear segments into B-splines, the C 1 continuity of the smooth tool position and smooth tool orientation paths is achieved. The parameter synchronization is realized by sharing the parameter of the tool orientation with that of the tool position. Compared with the existing analytical methods, the proposed method has a higher computation efficiency and a tighter tolerance in control of the orientation smoothing error. We have developed an open-source benchmark which validates the computation efficiency and error control ability of the proposed method. After smoothing and synchronization, the inserted B-spline of tool position is traversed with constant feedrate and the feedrate of the remaining linear segment is planned with jerk-bounded trajectory profile. The proposed smoothing method can be implemented on-line and has been integrated into a self-developed open-architecture CNC system. Its effectiveness for on-line generating smooth motion has been validated via simulations and experiments.

Real-time local smoothing for five-axis linear toolpath considering smoothing error constraints

NC program interpreting is one of the most important tasks of CNC in machine tool system. The existing CNC systems only support vendor-specific NC program input, which restrict the applying of other similar functional NC programs with different program format. Especially for those users owning several machine tools with different CNC from the same provider, the diversity of NC programs dramatically increases their cost and time on operator training and machine tool maintenance. In order to deal with the variety of NC program, an intelligent NC program processor (NCPP) is proposed in this paper. The proposed NCPP has a novel structure with separated NC specification dictionary and processing engine, which ease the CNC system to adapt to a new NC program specification by only updating the NC specification dictionary (NCSD). This paper explains the NC specification dictionary structure by using EBNF representation, which is further implemented in tool command language, an embedded script language tool. Meanwhile, the unchanged processing engine has been designed from a compiler's point of view to process the data dictionary. A NCPP prototype is built to evaluate the proposed design. Case study shows that the proposed NCPP handles different NC program inputs successfully.

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An intelligent NC program processor for CNC system of machine tool

A non-uniform, rational B-spline (NURBS) interpolator has great advantages for free-form surface machining compared to the conventional linear/circular interpolator However, the existing NURBS interpolators can only handle the NURBS trajectory given in a customized NURBS G code Also, it is limited to three-axis applications In this paper, a NURBS pre-interpolator with three function options is proposed for a computer numerical control (CNC) system so that the NURBS interpolator can be thoroughly applied for five-axis machining The first function is called the NURBS converter function, which is used to convert a series of linear/circular segments exactly into a NURBS curve The second function is the NURBS smoother function, by which, a series of linear segments are fitted to a NURBS curve The third option provides two kinds of NURBS G codes definition, by which, the NURBS trajectory with five axes can be represented directly Upon using the three options of the NURBS pre-interpolator, a unified NURBS curve can be obtained for further interpolation Two actual machining cases are conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed pre-interpolator

The design of a NURBS pre-interpolator for five-axis machining

In this paper, an event-driven simulation method is proposed for the motor driver in a virtual machine tool system (VMT), of which simulation speed is always a puzzle. This method utilizes a set of pre-defined events to trigger the execution of simulator in a non-deterministic manner and at the most efficient moment. Comparing to the conventional time domain simulation method, it dramatically reduces the CPU time consumption without losing simulation accuracy, therefore it improves the simulation efficiency. The effectiveness of this method is verified through a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) motor driver model in studying Servo/Mechanical interaction within a VMT.

Wei Li

Papers

An intelligent NC program processor for CNC system of machine tool

The design of a NURBS pre-interpolator for five-axis machining

An event-driven simulation method for motor driver in virtual machine tool system