ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 537–545

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Design of a generic five-axis postprocessor based on generalized

kinematics model of machine tool
Chen-Hua She, Chun-Cheng Chang
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Da-Yeh University, 112 Shan-Jiau Road, Da-Tsuen, Chang-Hua 515, Taiwan
Received 7 March 2006; received in revised form 26 May 2006; accepted 3 June 2006
Available online 20 July 2006

Abstract

This paper presents a generic five-axis postprocessor system for various five-axis machine tools. The generalized kinematics model of
common five-axis machines is constructed by combining two rotational degrees of freedom on the fixture table and two rotational
degrees of freedom on the spindle. The complete analytical equations for NC data are obtained through homogeneous coordinate
transformation matrix and inverse kinematics. The derived five-axis NC code expression is a general form suitable for all kinds of
five-axis machine tools with three orthogonal linear axes and two orthogonal rotational axes. A window-based postprocessor
software written by Borland C++ Builder and OpenGL has been developed according to the presented algorithm. The wireframe model
of the configured five-axis machine tool can be promptly shown and rotated/zoomed dynamically on the screen to assist the user to
input relevant parameters correctly and efficiently. Through the implementation of the developed postprocessor and the verification
by the solid cutting simulation software as well as the real machining experiment, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme was
confirmed.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Five-axis; Postprocessor; Kinematics model; Coordinate transformation matrix; NC programming

1. Introduction Inasaki [1] classified the configuration of five-axis machine

tool into three typical types. Various studies [2–6] have
Five-axis machining is one of the important processes in utilized the coordinate transformation matrix to develop
precision manufacturing. It has been used in defense, the multi-axis postprocessor for these three typical types.
aerospace and even consumer industry. Compared with However, the above studies can only be applicable to the
conventional three-axis machine tools, five-axis machine specific machine tool configuration.
tools can provide the flexibility of tilting the tool axis to The kinematics structure of a five-axis machine tool is an
various orientations, increase the cutting efficiency and important factor for developing the postprocessor. Bohez
avoid the tool collision against workpiece. However, it is [7] classified the possible kinematics structure of five-axis
almost impossible to generate the five-axis numerically machine tools into four main groups and investigated their
controlled (NC) data manually. The data should be advantages and disadvantages. She and Lee [8] proposed a
transformed by the postprocessor depending on the postprocessor for general five-axis machine tools using the
configuration of the machine tool. Postprocessor is the kinematics model that adds two rotary movements on the
important interface that coverts the cutter location (CL) workpiece table and two rotary movements on the spindle.
data including cutter tip position and the tool orientation, Tutunea-Fatan and Feng [9] have recently presented a
to NC data. Since various combinations may be synthe- generic and unified model for all the five-axis machine tools
sized to configure the five-axis machine tool, Sakamoto and with two rotational axes, and derived a general coordinate
transformation matrix for five-axis machine tools. Never-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 4 8511888x2121; theless, the complete analytical solutions of NC data
fax: +886 4 7554175. dealing with different configurations effectively are not
E-mail address: [email protected] (C.-H. She). further investigated in the above studies.

0890-6955/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2006.06.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
538 C.-H. She, C.-C. Chang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 537–545

This paper extends the previous researches [5,8] pro-

posed by the authors and develops a generic five-axis
postprocessor system from a generalized kinematics model
Isp
adding four rotational degrees of freedom where two of
them are applied to the workpiece table and the other two
are applied to the spindle. The analytical equations for NC
data are determined by equating the CL data matrix and
I ws
the form-shaping function matrix. In addition, the original I ss
NC data for a specific machine tool can be transformed to
the other machine tool configuration using the derived
analytical equations so that the portability of the NC data
can be greatly promoted. A window-based postprocessor I wp
software is developed and implemented with two typical
configurations of five-axis machine tool. Verification by the Y
solid cutting simulation software and the real machining
experiment confirms the validity of the proposed metho-
dology.
Z
X
2. Postprocessor of generalized five-axis machine tools Fig. 1. Generalized five-axis machine tool with four rotational degrees of
freedom.
2.1. Link and joint modeling

Any machine tool may be thought of as a set of links

connected in a chain by joints. Typical configuration for accordingly when the primary axis rotates. This definition
five-axis machine tools can be divided into three basic types agrees with those used by most of the commercial
[1]: (1) table-tilting type with two rotations on the table, (2) postprocessor systems, e.g. IntelliPosts [11]. To describe
spindle-tilting type with two rotations on the spindle, and the relative position and orientation of the cutting tool with
(3) table/spindle-tilting type with one rotation each on respect to the workpiece, appropriate coordinate systems
the table and spindle. To manipulate the position and shown in Fig. 2 should be established. The coordinate
orientation of the cutting tool and the machine tool, the system for the workpiece and the cutting tool are
relationship of the coordinate system between the adjacent Ow X w Y w Z w and Ot X t Y t Z t , respectively. Coordinate
links and joint should be established. Assume that a joint systems Owp X wp Y wp Z wp and Ows X ws Y ws Zws are attached
connects two connects two links numbered i and j. to the primary and secondary rotations on the workpiece
Coordinate systems Oi X i Y i Z i and Oj X j Y j Zj are attached fixture table, respectively. Similarly, coordinate systems
to link i and link j, respectively. The relative position and Osp X sp Y sp Z sp and Oss X ss Y ss Zss are attached to the
orientation of jth system with respect to ith system can be primary and secondary rotations, respectively on the
mathematically expressed as follows: spindle. Coordinate systems Ob X b Y b Z b , OTx X Tx Y Tx ZTx ,
OTy X Ty Y Ty Z Ty and OTz X Tz Y Tz Z Tz are attached to the
i
Aj ¼ TransðLi;j;x ; Li;j;y ; Li;j;z ÞRotðN; fN Þ, (1) machine bed, X, Y and Z table, respectively.
The relative position and orientation of coordinate
where i Aj represents the relative transformation matrix of system Ot X t Y t Zt with respect to the coordinate system
system Oj X j Y j Z j with respect to system Oi X i Y i Z i . Li;j ¼ Ow X w Y w Z w , w At , can be obtained by transforming w Aws
Li;j;x i þ Li;j;y j þ Li;j;z k is the distance vector from origin Oi to ss At in series, and expressed in matrices product as
to Oj . Symbol N  x; y; z, and Trans and Rot are the 4  4 follows:
homogeneous translation and rotation matrices adopted by
w
Paul’s notation [10]. At ¼ w Aws ws Awp wp ATx Tx ATz Tz Ab b ATy Ty Asp sp Ass ss At
¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ
2.2. Forward kinematics modeling TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ
Rotðnwp; fnwp ÞTransðPx ; Py ; Pz ÞRotðnsp; fnsp Þ
Four rotational movements occur on the generalized
five-axis machine tool as shown in Fig. 1, where Iwp and Iws TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z ÞRotðnss; fnss Þ, ð2Þ
are the primary and secondary rotational axes on the
workpiece fixture table, while Isp and Iss denote the primary where subscripts nwp, nws, nsp, nss  x, y, z. Px , Py , Pz
and secondary rotational axes on the spindle, respectively. denote the relative translation distances of the X, Y, Z
Note that the primary rotational axis is defined to be tables, respectively. In addition, fnwp , fnws , fnsp and fnss
located closer to the machine bed. The other rotational axis represent the rotation angles for the fixture table and the
is called the secondary rotational axis, which rotates spindle, respectively.
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YTy , Ysp

nss
nsp
OTy , Osp X Ty , X sp

Yw Yss , Yt
L sp ,ss
Workpiece
ZTy , Z sp
Xss , Xt
Ow Xw Oss , Ot

Yws
Py
L w,ws Zw Z ss , Z t
− nws
t tax rpt
Ows X ws
Yb

−nwp Cutting tool

Z ws
Ob Xb
L ws ,wp
Ywp , YTx YTz
Zb
Pz
X wp , X Tx OTz X Tz
Owp , OTx
Px

Z wp , ZTx ZTz

Fig. 2. Coordinate systems for generalized five-axis machine tool.

The tool axis vector ttax and the position vector of the data can be expressed in the matrix form as follows:
cutter tip center rtp with respect to system Ot X t Y t Z t can be 2 3
transformed to system Ow X w Y w Z w , and obtain ttax ,rtp K x Qx
using Eq. (2). The transformation is as follows:   6K 7
K Q 6 y Qy 7
¼6 6 K z Qz 7,
7 (4)
" # " # 0 1 4 5
tw
ax rw
p ttax rtp 0 1
¼ w At
0 1 0 1
¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ where K x , K y and K z are direction cosines of the vector of
tool orientation K; Qx , Qy and Qz are the components of
TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ the tool tip centre’s position vector Q. The two vectors are
Rotðnwp; fnwp ÞTransðPx ; Py ; Pz Þ relative to the workpiece coordinate system. Once the CL
Rotðnsp; fnsp ÞTransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z Þ data matrix is obtained, determining five reference inputs
" t # (three linear motions plus two rotary motions) for the five-
tax rtp
Rotðnss; fnss Þ : ð3Þ axis machine used is referred to as inverse kinematics
0 1 transformation.
Equating CL data matrix and form-shaping function
matrix, and taking the corresponding elements of the first
Eq. (3) describes the form-shaping function matrix [12]
column of two matrices lead to the following equation:
of generalized five-axis machine tool consisting of three
" #
linear axis motions and four rotational axis motions of K
which only two of them are active; and this matrix will be ¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ
employed to determine the desired joint parameters, i.e. 0
fnwp , fnws , fnsp , fnss , Px , Py and Pz . TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ
Rotðnwp; fnwp ÞTransðPx ; Py ; Pz ÞRotðnsp; fnsp Þ
" t #
2.3. Inverse kinematics for determining rotary motions tax
TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z ÞRotðnss; fnss Þ .
0
Most current CAD/CAM systems can produce the CL
data for five-axis machining of free-form surfaces. The CL ð5Þ
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Two of the joint angles (fnwp , fnws , fnsp and fnss ) on the the second column of two matrices yield
right-hand side of Eq. (5) are unknown and should be " #
solved. According to the rotational movement character- Q
¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ
istics, the five-axis machine tool can be designated as six 1
types, i.e. AB, AC, BA, BC, CA and CB types. There are
TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ
two feasible tool orientations for each type, which meet the
five-axis machining requirement. The spindle-tilting AB Rotðnwp; fnwp ÞTransðPx ; Py ; Pz Þ
type is chosen as an example. In this case, fnws ¼ fnwp ¼ 0, Rotðnsp; fnsp ÞTransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z Þ
nsp  x and nss  y, the right-hand side of Eq. (5) for tool " t#
rp
orientation along the X, Y and Z axis can be obtained as Rotðnss; fnss Þ . ð9Þ
follows: 1
 T
Rotðx; fx ÞRotðy; fy Þ 1 0 0 0 Three unknowns (Px , Py and Pz ) in Eq. (9) should be
h iT  T h iT
¼ Cfy Sfx Sfy Cfx Sfy 0 , ð6Þ solved. Let P 1 ¼ Px Py Pz 1 , then Eq. (9)
reduces to
 T h iT " #
Rotðx; fx ÞRotðy; fy Þ 0 1 0 0 ¼ 0 Cfx Sfx 0 , Q
¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ
(7) 1
 T TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z ÞRotðnwp; fnwp Þ
Rotðx; fx ÞRotðy; fy Þ 0 0 1 0 (" #
h iT P
¼ Sfy Sfx Cfy Cfx Cfy 0 , ð8Þ  þ Rotðnsp; fnsp Þ
1
" t #)
where ‘‘C’’ and ‘‘S’’ refer to cosine and sine functions, rp
respectively. Eq. (7) indicates that the tool orientation TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z ÞRotðnss; fnss Þ .
1
along the Y-axis is infeasible for the AB type machine tool
since the rotational effect of the B axis (fy ) cannot be ð10Þ
exhibited and does not appear in the right-hand side of
Therefore, the linear joint parameters (Px ,Py and Pz ) can
Eq. (7). Consequently, the AB type machine tool should
be obtained as follows:
have the tool orientation along the X or Z-axis only. The
" #
joint angle solutions for the spindle-tilting type are P
summarized in Table 1, where arctan 2(y,x) is the function ¼ fTransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ
1
that returns angles in the range of p%y%p by examining
the sign of both y and x [10]. Similarly, the joint angle TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ
" #
solutions of the other types (table-tilting and table/spindle- Q
1
tilting type) can also be obtained by the same procedure. Rotðnwp; fnwp Þg  Rotðnsp; fnsp Þ
1
2.4. Inverse kinematics for determining linear motions TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z Þ
" t#
rp
As before, equating CL data matrix and form-shaping Rotðnss; fnss Þ . ð11Þ
function matrix, and taking the corresponding elements of 1

Table 1
General joint angle solutions for spindle-tilting type machine tool

Configuration type Tool orientation Joint angle solutions

AB X-axis fy ¼ arccos(Kx), fx ¼ arctan 2(Ky,Kz)

AB Z-axis fy ¼ arcsin(Kx), fx ¼ arctan 2(Ky,Kz)
AC X-axis fz ¼ arccos(Kx), fx ¼ arctan 2(Kz,Ky)
AC Y-axis fz ¼ arccos(Kx), fx ¼ arctan 2(Kz,Ky)
BA Y-axis fx ¼ arccos(Ky), fy ¼ arctan 2(Kx,Kz)
BA Z-axis fx ¼ arccos(Ky), fy ¼ arctan 2(Kx,Kz)
BC X-axis fz ¼ arccos(Ky), fy ¼ arctan 2(Kz,Kx)
BC Y-axis fz ¼ arccos(Ky), fy ¼ arctan 2(Kz,Kx)
CA Y-axis fx ¼ arccos(Kz), fz ¼ arctan 2(Kx,Ky)
CA Z-axis fx ¼ arccos(Kz), fz ¼ arctan 2(Kx,Ky)
CB X-axis fy ¼ arccos(Kz), fz ¼ arctan 2(Ky,Kx)
CB Z-axis fy ¼ arccos(Kz), fz ¼ arctan 2(Ky, Kx)
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Note that Px , Py and Pz are not the actual NC code over, because of the simplicity of derivation, the two
expressions (denoted as X, Y and Z). The axis command of rotary axes for table-tilting and spindle-tilting type
linear movements of the machine tool should be referred configuration are usually assumed to intersect for each
to the program coordinate system. The program co- other for most of the previous researches. In this paper,
ordinate system is assumed here to coincide with the there is an offset vector between the two rotary axes.
workpiece coordinate system. Consequently, the desired Consequently, the presented NC data equation is a
X, Y and Z values of NC data in programming can general form for the generalized five-axis machine tool.
then be determined using Eq. (10) under the condition 3. Because many combinations can be synthesized to
h iT
generate various multi-axis machine tool configurations
fnwp ¼ fnws ¼ fnsp ¼ fnss ¼ 0, and Qx Qy Qz 1 ¼
 T and the multi-axis NC data can only be applied to the
X Y Z 1 . This leads to specific configuration, the portability of the NC data is
  inevitably reduced. In this paper, the NC data are
X Y Z 1 T ¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z Þ explicitly expressed in terms of the CL data. The CL
TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ data can also be obtained by using Eqs. (5), (9) and (12)
(" # " t #)
P rp if the original NC code is known, and can then be
 þ TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z Þ transformed to the dedicated NC data for different
1 1
configurations. Therefore, the presented methodology
¼ TransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z Þ can enhance the facility and flexibility of machine tools.
TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ 4. The developed multi-axis postprocessor method deals

 ðTransðLw;ws;x ; Lw;ws;y ; Lw;ws;z ÞRotðnws; fnws Þ with the machine tool configuration whose linear and
TransðLws;wp;x ; Lws;wp;y ; Lws;wp;z Þ
rotational movements are orthogonal. In case of the
" # five-axis machine tool with a nutating head/table whose
Q
Rotðnwp; fnwp ÞÞ1  Rotðnsp; fnsp Þ rotational axis is in an inclined plane, the general
1 rotation transformation matrix [10] should be used.
" #
rtp However, the analytical equations of NC data can be
TransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z ÞRotðnss; fnss Þ
1 derived by the same procedure as described in the
" #) orthogonal configuration.
rtp
þTransðLsp;ss;x ; Lsp;ss;y ; Lsp;ss;z Þ . 5. Since the analytical equations of the output NC data are
1
explicitly expressed in terms of CL data, the computa-
ð12Þ tional error can be assured during the transformation.
Eq. (12) represents the complete desired analytical However, considering the practical viewpoint where the
solutions for NC data of the generalized five-axis machine rotary and linear motion takes place simultaneously for
tool. Once the appropriate joint angle values shown in multi-axis machine tool, the actual tool motion trajec-
Table 1 are specified, the NC data of the specific five-axis tory with respect to the workpiece will be not linear and
machine tool’s configuration can be readily obtained. become a curved path. The non-linear curved path will
deviate from the linearly interpolated straight line path
between successive path points, and this is known as the
3. Discussion linearization problem [2]. To deal with this situation,
most postprocessors use the post command LINTOL to
1. The joint angle solutions shown in Table 1 for each type specify the deviation tolerance and additional inter-
of configuration are typical solutions. For the same CL mediate control points should be added to ensure that
data, there is another possible solution. The AB the deviation is less than the tolerance [14,15].
configuration type with the X axis tool orientation is
chosen as an example. The joint angle solution of the B
axis is fy ¼ arccosðK x Þ, whose value is in the range of
0pfy pp. However, if the operating range of the tilting 4. Implementation and verification
head is in the range between p and 0, the solution
should be modified as fy ¼ arccosðK x Þ. On the other 4.1. Software implementation
hand, if the operating range of the tilting head meets the
two possible solutions, the shortest rotational angle To verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology,
movement of the tilting head is usually to be chosen. a window-based postprocessor software has been devel-
2. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is that the oped under the Windows-XP environment with the Bor-
linear joint parameters (Px , Py and Pz ) are explicitly land C++ Builder programming language and the
determined in the matrix form. On the contrary, the OpenGL graphics library. Fig. 3 shows the snapshot of
conventional approach, which solves three simultaneous the system initiation dialogue, indicating the generalized
equations to derive the parameters, is tedious and time- kinematics model including the primary and secondary
consuming for various kinds of configurations. More- rotary axes on the workpiece table and the spindle for the
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Fig. 3. Initiation dialog of the developed general five-axis postprocessor.

five-axis machine tool. The user first selects two rotary axes tool and simulate the NC data as well as CL data. Fig. 6
and the corresponding rotational directions. The system shows that a table-tilting type machine tool is constructed
will automatically display the wireframe model of the in the software environment and the final shape of the
configured machine tool and two feasible tool orientations. workpiece is simulated. Note that the two rotary axes are
The user can use the mouse to rotate/zoom the model to assumed not to intersect each other, and the offset vector
assure whether the kinematics model is correct or not, from the centre of the secondary rotary table to the centre
or pick the ‘‘Reset’’ button to restart the configuration of the primary rotary table, as shown in Fig. 4, is
procedure. Lws;wp ¼ 10i  20j  30k. This phenomenon should be
Once the kinematics model has been configured reflected in the VERICUTscomponent tree as shown in
correctly, the user should enter the relevant parameters Fig. 6. Moreover, the stock should be placed in the
for NC machining, e.g. the offset vector from the program appropriate position so that the offset vector from
origin to the centre of the secondary rotary table, the offset the program origin to the center of the secondary rotary
vector from the centre of the secondary rotary table to the table is Lw;ws ¼ 25i  25j  15k, as indicated in Fig. 4.
centre of the primary rotary table, the offset vector from Once the configuration process has been completed, the soft-
the centre of the primary rotary spindle to the centre of the ware system reads the NC data to perform the cutting action.
secondary rotary spindle and the tool tip vector. Finally, In addition, the system can output the transformed CL data
the target CL data are opened by clicking the ‘‘File’’ button that can be double-checked with the original CL data.
and the NC data will be generated accordingly. Moreover, Fig. 7 shows the result for simulating the NC data in a
since the presented system is a generalized postprocessor, spindle-tilting type machine tool. As before, the two rotary
the corresponding CL data can also be transformed if the axes are assumed not to intersect each other and the offset
user opens the NC data for the configured machine tool. In vector from the centre of the primary rotary spindle to the
addition, to confirm the feasibility of the proposed centre of the secondary rotary spindle is Lsp;ss ¼ 120i þ
algorithm, two typical machine tool’s configurations, 20j þ 10k as shown in Fig. 5. Since the spindle will rotate
namely the table-tilting type and the spindle-tilting type, during machining, the tool tip vector determined from the
are tested respectively. Figs. 4 and 5 show the screenshots centre of the secondary rotary spindle to the tool tip centre
of the system execution dialogue for the table-tilting type is required for NC data generation. As shown in Fig. 7, the
and the spindle-tilting type with Z-axis tool orientation. signed distance from the centre of the secondary rotary
spindle to the gauge plane is 0i þ 0j  440k and the gauge
4.2. VERICUTs verification length for the tool is 150 mm. Therefore, the tool tip vector
shown in Fig. 5 should be entered as 0i þ 0j  590k. The
The generated five-axis NC data are further verified on results shown in Figs. 6 and 7 demonstrate that the
the solid cutting simulation software VERICUTs [13], developed postprocessor method is highly effective and
which can build the kinematics model of an NC machine reliable.
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Fig. 4. Execution dialog for generating the table-tilting type machine tool’s NC data.

Fig. 5. Execution dialog for generating the spindle-tilting type machine tool’s NC data.

4.3. Machining experiment the NC code by the developed postprocessor software.

The aluminium alloy workpiece was cut by a CNC lathe
The effectiveness of the presented postprocessor was machine and then clamped on the rotary table of a five-axis
conducted in an experiment to machine a turbine blade on machine tool. Figs. 8 and 9 show the actual machining and
a table/spindle-tilting type machining centre. The CL data the machined turbine blade, demonstrating that the
for machining the turbine blade is generated by the proposed methodology can be successfully applied to the
Unigraphicss CAM module and then converted to practical five-axis machining.
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Fig. 6. Screenshot of the VERICUTs simulation and verification for the table-tilting type machine tool.

Fig. 7. Screenshot of the VERICUTs simulation and verification for the spindle-tilting type machine tool.

5. Conclusion five-axis machine tools with three orthogonal linear axes

and two orthogonal rotational axes can be explicitly
This paper has proposed a generic five-axis postproces- expressed in terms of CL data. Moreover, the NC data
sor methodology based on the generalized kinematics for a specific machine tool can be transformed to the other
model. The analytical equations of NC data for various machine tool configuration using the derived analytical
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the National Science Council

of Taiwan for supporting this research under Grant NSC
94-2212-E-212-015. Thanks are also extended to graduate
student Mr. Hong-Ming Su for his experimental assistance.

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