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Posts Tagged ‘cnc controller’

CNC Control info has now been added to a dedicated CNC Machine Control webpage on Ivan Irons CNC Information website. Users can find Computer Numerical Control Controller information basics as well as Ivan’s simple and understandable view of CNC Machine Control and what new Computer Numerical Control users need to know. Check it out at: CNC Machinist

Ivan spends time explaining that CNC Machine Controllers take the machining instructions that were made from your G-Code and converts the G-Code into motion that your Computer Numerical Machine will understand. Your CNC Controller is very important in the Computer Numerical Control Process because it’s the last link in order to get your design made on your Computer Numerical Control machines. The controller interprets the signal pulses from your Control Computer and instructs the machine to move. You can see more details on this at: CNC Machine

Ivan also spends some time discussing where you can get CNC Controllers. He also talks about whether you want to build your own Computer Numerical Control Controller of if you want to find a company or a person to build you a specific Computer Numerical Control Controller. Ivan shares with the CNC Controller Newbie that he prefers to purchase his controllers from an expert because of all of the electrical work that is involved in building a CNC Controller. You can view more of Ivan’s discussion on Controllers at: CNC

Ivan has also added some articles from various resources on CNC Machine Control. These articles are updated frequently and are a way for the user who is interested in more information on CNC Machine Control to dig further into the topic. Some of the CNC Machine Control articles that are on Ivan’s Control webpage are CNC Control Interface, CNC Controller Process, and the costs of various Computer Numerical Control Controllers.

About CNC Information: CNC Information is a community website that allows users to gain a deeper insight into CNC.

CNC Control info has now been added to a dedicated CNC Machine Control webpage on Ivan Irons CNC Information website. Users can find Computer Numerical Control Controller information basics as well as Ivan’s simple and understandable view of CNC Machine Control and what new Computer Numerical Control users need to know.

GE Fanuc has developed a series of aftermarket services that the company said can deliver as much as 25 percent more machining capacity without buying new equipment.

GE Fanuc’s Engineered Solutions (www.gefanuc.com) business unit has developed a method to optimize machine tool processes that includes adjusting the functions on machine tools to ensure they operate accurately and that they deliver the correct information to the machine controller.

GE Fanuc Engineered Solutions aftermarket services tune-up such machine functions as feed-forward, look-ahead, contouring controls, NURBS interpolation, and feedrate and adaptive controls.

Tuning such functions on a machine tool can extend a machine’s capabilities, Gary Highley, manager of Engineered Solutions for GE Fanuc, said.

“Users often don’t understand the full capabilities of their CNC machines. There are literally hundreds of tools in the CNC that can be used to improve productivity of the machining process,” Highley said.

“Machine tool builders provide the best value CNC system to meet their machine specifications, but may not take advantage of some key advanced features unless specified by the end user. Awareness of this functionality can lead to huge improvements in manufacturing processes,” Highley added.

For example: A machine tool’s servo system may not be properly adjusted and optimized for manufacturing, he said. Servo motors are responsible for moving spindles and tables on machines, and parts will be made out of tolerance or nearly out of tolerance if they do not function properly.

To get the best performance from a machine tool, GE Fanuc tests and adjusts servo system parameters while monitoring the machine to ensure that the responses from the servo system match the mechanics of the machine.

In addition, current loops are adjusted to high settings to realize a high response rate, and velocity loop and position gain also are set high to get higher responses to commands and to suppress disturbance torque.

Highley has a long list of other adjustments, tests and checks that he does on a machine, but he said the current loops are the heart of the servo system.

“Faster current loops equal faster response to disturbances and reduced path error. A fast current loop allows for a fast velocity and position loop. Faster loops improve speed and accuracy,” he said. A high velocity loop improves a machine’s speed of response to commands, while position gain determines how fast the servo system reacts to position deviation. A high position gain helps to reduce errors as long as stability is maintained.

Highley said basic servo tuning on a machine run by an aerospace parts producer improved the cycle time and the part profile. Cycle time was reduced by tuning the velocity and position loops for higher speeds, and by reducing acceleration/deceleration times to 150 ms from 600 ms. Part accuracy was improved by reducing path errors and interpolation errors.

In a second example, Highley said another aerospace parts producer was able to save $150,000 in the production of one part as a result of servo tuning and machine optimization on a line of seven horizontal machining centers.

The shop could not hold tolerances on the part, even while machining at 72 ipm, and had to make significant edits to its part programs each time it ran the part. Also, a separate, edited program was needed for each part on each machine, and the edited programs were based on test cuts that were done each time a new batch of parts was run.

The machine optimization included correcting settings for pulses per revolution of the spindle, which is a feedback response to the CNC; adjusting gains on the machines and correcting high precision contour control parameters.

“The result is that the programmed path now is the path that they get,” Highley said, adding that the shop now uses one part program for all seven machines instead of individual programs for each machine, and it has reduced hand deburring operations by 98 percent.

With Manual Guide i, the current Fanuc GE CNC controllers can be directly programmed onsite in a simple manner – regardless of whether turning, milling or combining machining processes

Manual Guide i, a user-friendly workshop programming from Fanuc GE, is constantly being developed. In addition to the improvement of diverse machining and milling cycles, it has new functions for multi-channel turning as well as programming in the tilted working plane. With Manual Guide i, the current Fanuc GE CNC controllers can be directly programmed onsite in a simple manner – regardless of whether turning, milling or combined machining processes will be carried out.

Thanks to the basic module and the modules for turning and milling, a user can limit himself to the essentials.

Each module initialises all cycles, leaving the user to easily and quickly program the respective machining process.

* All machining functions on one screen – the ‘all-in-one-screen-design’ provides the user with an overview of all machine functions on one screen.

On this an operator can read all axis positions and rotating speeds, detect where the machine currently is in the program, and display the tool paths or the workpiece in 3D in the simulation window.

To constantly maintain an overview, a bar with soft-keys facilitates intuitive menu selection. This also applies for multichannel turning operations.

* Intelligent functions – for the Series 0i-TTC CNC controller, Manual Guide i makes intelligent functions available, which simplify two-channel turning.

A process table, for example, displays the relation between the spindle and the turret via a timeline.

Standby times and travel paths can also be included.

An additional screen mask serves for simulation: both tool paths can be simultaneously displayed in the 3D model, which primarily serves for NC program control.

Lastly, the all-in-one-screen-design provides an overview on co-ordinates, machine status and the executed programs for both channels.

Even for three-channel turning, which is possible with the Series 30i CNC controller, Manual Guide i makes the corresponding functions available.

* Tilted work plane – there are new functions for tilted working plane (TWP).

With Manual Guide i, the TWP can not only be determined via Eulerian angles but also via the roll, pitch and yaw command (RPY), three points in the space, two vectors, angle projection or the tool axis direction.

In order to be able to easily utilise these options, Fanuc GE has developed a guidance screen which graphically supports the operator while requesting the required data from him in a dialogue.

Also new is the realistic simulation of the generated NC program for the tilted working plane.

It can either be shown as tool paths or as a shaded display.

* About Fanuc GE CNC: – Fanuc GE CNC is a leading global supplier in factory automation.

These include products and solutions for the machine tool market based on a wide range of CNCs, motion control products, monitoring and control software products, CO2 lasers and services.

Fanuc GE CNC is a joint venture between GE and FANUC and the company’s European headquarters are at Fanuc GE CNC Europe in Luxembourg.

The popular Learn CNC Video Series from Ivan Irons is now complete and added at CNCInformation.com. There is a special category page at CNCInformation.com that hosts these CNC Video’s and Ivan has just added the CNC Video transcripts for additional learning.