NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TIRUCHIRAPPALLI

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Systems

(PRPC17)

Dr. Vineet Kumar Yadav

Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli,
Tiruchirappalli- 620015, Tamil Nadu, India.
Email: [email protected]
Syllabus
Fundamentals of numerical control- NC and CNC - classification of NC/CNC systems –
introduction to multi-axes machines, configurations, control strategies - role of NC /CNC in
CAM – applications, benefits and limitations of NC/CNC – DNC – Adaptive Control: ACO
and ACC systems.
Machine tool- components of CNC machine tool, drives and controls - automatic tool
changers, automatic pallet changers, tool offsets and work offsets, high speed and precision
machining concepts.
Machine control unit- elements, functions - interpolators - types and stages of
interpolation- principles of interpolation - interpolation schemes - stairs approximation,
digital differential analyzer, direct function calculation; DDA-hardware and software;
software interpolators- feedback devices.
Part program and its elements- methods of programming – manual part programming,
formats. codes and cycles-computer assisted part programming - custom macro – APT and
its variations - FMS
Outline

• Introduction
• Fundamentals of numerical control
• Machine tool
• Machine control unit
• Part program and its elements

Acknowledgements:
• Yorem Koren, Computer Control of Manufacturing systems, McGraw Hill, 1986.
• Mikell P Groover, “Automation, Production Systems and Computer Integrated Manufacturing”,
Prentice Hall Publications, 2007
Introduction
• Early Machine Tools
➢ Wilkinson's Boring Machine
• Punch Cards
➢ French textile workers
➢ Resistance by the silk weavers
➢ Rob them their job and livelihood
• Servomechanism
➢ Error sensing negative feedback
• Automatically Programmed Tool (APT)
➢ Original version preceded FORTRAN
➢ Revised and rewritten in FORTRAN
Numerical Control
• Numerical control (NC) is a form of programmable automation in which the mechanical
actions of a machine tool or other equipment are controlled by a program containing
coded alphanumeric data.
• When the current job is completed, the program of instructions can be changed to
process a new job.
• The capability to change the program makes NC suitable for low and medium
production. It is much easier to write new programs than to make major alterations in the
processing equipment
Numerical Control
• Numerical control can be applied to a wide variety of processes.
• The applications divide into two categories:
➢ machine tool applications, such as drilling, milling, turning, and other metal
working;
➢ other applications, such as assembly, rapid prototyping, and inspection.

• The common operating feature of NC in all these applications is control of the work head
movement relative to the work part.
Numerical Control
• The development of NC owes much to the U.S. Air Force and the early aerospace
industry.
• Initiated by John Parsons and his associate Frank Stulen at Parsons Corporation in
Traverse City, Michigan.
• He had named his system the Cardamatic milling machine, since the numerical data was
stored on punched cards.
• The name numerical control was adopted in March 1951 based on a contest sponsored by
John Parsons among “MIT personnel working on the project.”
• The first NC machine was developed by retrofitting a Cincinnati Milling Machine
Company vertical Hydro-Tel milling machine that had been donated by the Air Force
from surplus equipment.
• The controller combined analog and digital components, consisted of 292 vacuum tubes,
and occupied a floor area greater than the machine tool itself.
Basic Components of an NC system

1. A part program of instructions

2. A machine control unit
3. Processing equipment
Advantages of NC
• Greater manufacturing flexibility
• Reduced manufacturing lead time
• Reduced non-productive time
• Reduced fixturing
• Reduced inventory
• Quality control improved
• Greater operator safety.
• Reduce the scrap
• Reduced floor space requirement
Disadvantages and Limitation of Conventional NC
• High investment cost and Maintenance cost – most complex and sophisticated
technology cost more than the conventional machine.
• Require skilled operator – finding and training of NC personnel should be
considered.
• Tearing and wearing of punch tape and less reliable punch tape component.
• Part programming mistake in punched tape.
• No optimal feed and speed – conventional NC machine do not provide an option to
change the cutting speed and feed during the operation.
Applications of Numerical Control Technology
• Numerical control technology has application in a wide variety of production
operation such as metal cutting, automatic drafting, spot welding, press working,
assembly, inspection, etc.
• The NC technology is suitable to sequence/series of machining process.
• Job geometry is complex, expensive. Mistakes in the process lead to high loss.
• It is expected engineering design changes in future.
• High metal removal is required.
• The work-part required 100% inspection.
• There must be close tolerance on work-part.
• When many operations need to be done when processing. It is frequently
processed in batches of small lot sizes.
NC Coordinate systems

Coordinate systems used in NC (a) for flat and prismatic work and (b) for rotational
work
Motion Control Systems

(a) Point-to-point (positioning) control (b) Continuous path (contouring) control

Absolute and Incremental Positioning
Computers and Numerical Control
• The makers of NC equipment incorporated the computer technology
into their products.
• Starting with large mainframe computers in the 1960s and followed
by minicomputers in the 1970s and microcomputers in the 1980s.
• Today, NC means computer numerical control (CNC), which is
defined as an NC system whose MCU consists of a dedicated
microcomputer rather than a hardwired controller.
• The latest computer controllers for CNC feature highspeed processors,
large memories, solid-state memory, improved servos, and bus
architectures.
CNC Machine Control Unit
• Central Processing Unit
• Memory
• I/O Interface
• Controls for machine tool axes and spindle speed
• Sequence controls for other machine tool functions

Configuration of CNC Machine Control Unit

Features of CNC that Distinguish It from Conventional NC
• Storage of more than one part program
• Program editing at the machine tool
• Fixed cycles and programming subroutines
• Adaptive Control
• Interpolation
• Positioning features for setup
• Acceleration and deceleration calculations
• Communications interface
• Diagnostics
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machine
NC Machine Classifications
1. Motion control:
➢ Point to point (PTP)
➢ Continuous (contouring) path
2. Control loops:
➢ Open loop
➢ Closed loop
3. Power drives:
➢ Hydraulic
➢ Electric or
➢ Pneumatic
4. Positioning systems:
➢ Incremental
➢ Absolute positioning
5. Hardwired/Soft-wired
➢ Hardwired NC
➢ Soft-wired Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
Open/Close loop control
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machine
• The functions of machine tool are partly or fully taken over by a dedicated computer
(i.e., computer controlled)
• A micro or minicomputer is assigned with machine tool.
• The movements of machine components are controlled by coded instructions in the form
of numbers or letters (i.e., program)
• The program may be prepared by programmer or obtained from drafting software (e.g.
AutoCAD)
• The programs can be modified and displayed at the machine, along with a simulated
view of the process
• Availability of small computer with large memory and program editing capabilities
popular the use of CNC systems widely.
DNC
• Direct Numerical Control
• Distributed Numerical Control

• Direct Numerical Control

• first attempt to use a digital computer to control NC machines. It was in the late 1960s,
before the advent of CNC.
• by a single (mainframe) computer through direct connection and in real time. Instead of
using a punched tape reader.
• An instruction block provides the commands for one complete move of the machine tool,
including location coordinates, speeds, feeds, and other data.
• This mode of operation was referred to by the term behind the tape reader (BTR).
• Distributed Numerical Control
• As the installed base of CNC machines grew during the 1970s and 1980s, a new form of
DNC emerged, called distributed numerical control (DNC).
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machine

Lathe Milling machine

Adaptive Control
• Adaptive System is a dynamic system with on-line
parametric estimation.

• Repetitive Operations
• Complex Operations

• e.g.
Cruise control of a vehicle
Adaptive Control
• e.g. Injection Molding
Adaptive Control
• e.g. Machining
Motivation for Adaptive Control
• Early 1950s – design of autopilots operating at a wide range of altitudes and
speeds
• 1958, R. Kalman, self-tuning controller
▪ The crash of the X-15A-3 (November 15, 1967)

Crash site of the X-15A-3

Crash due to non-robust adaptive controller!

Adaptive Control in Transition

▪ Fast adaptation
F-8 NPS Flight Test Program ▪ Single design GTM T2
Sig RASCAL (NASA)
(NASA) AFCS

60s 90 95 00 05 10
NASA LaRC

X-15 IFCS RESTORE Adaptive Control MK-82 L-JDAM

(NASA/USAF/ (NASA/Boeing) (AFRL-VA/Boeing) for Munitions
US Navy) F-15 ACTIVE X-36 (AFRL-MN/GST/Boeing)
MK-84

in production
J-UCAS
(DARPA/USAF/US Navy) MK-84 JDAM
Boeing X-45A & X-45C

• Gen I: flown 1999, 2003

• Gen II: 2002 – 2006
✓ flight test 4th Q 2005
• Gen III: 2006

in production
▪ Slow adaptation evaluated in flight
29
▪ “Expensive” gain-scheduled AFCS sim environment Source: Kevin Wise, Boeing
(adapted)
Adaptive Control

• Adaptive control system is a logical extension of the CNC

mechanism.
• In CNC mechanism the cutting speed and feed rates are prescribed
by the part programmer.
• The determination of these operating parameters depends on the
Knowledge and experience of programmer regarding the work
piece, tool materials, coolant conditions and other factors.
• In adaptive control machining,
➢ improvement in the production rate
➢ reduction in the machining cost
Adaptive Control
• Adaptive control is the continuous monitoring of cutting
load and automatic adjustment of cutting feed rate based on
the load.
• Adaptive control is the control method used by a controller
which must adapt to a controlled system with parameters
which vary or are initially uncertain.
• The initial adaptive control systems were based on
analog devices, representing the technology at that time.
• Today adaptive control uses microprocessor-based
controls and is typically integrated with an existing CNC
system.
Adaptive Control
• An adaptive control system can be thought of as having two loops.
➢ One loop is a normal feedback loop with the process and the
controller.
➢ The other loop is the parameter adjustment loop.
• The variation in uncertainty that an adaptive system can handle
depends directly on the speed of the parameter adjustment loop
Parameter
adjustment

Controller
parameters
Input
Output
Controller Plant
Control
signal
Functions of Adaptive Control
• Identification function
Parameter
adjustment

➢ determining the current performance Controller

parameters

➢ determining the current value Input

Output
Controller Plant
Control

➢ making use of the feedback data signal

• Decision function • Identification function

➢ adjusted to improve process performance• Decision function
➢ by means of a pre-programmed logic • Modification function
• Modification function
➢ implement the decision
➢ concerned with a physical or mechanical change
➢ change system parameters to drive the process towards a optimal
state
Application of Adaptive Control in Machining

• Variable geometry of cut in the form of changing depth or width of

cut
• Variable workpiece hardness and variable machinability
• Variable workpiece rigidity
• Tool-wear
• Air gaps during cutting
Classification

• Adaptive Control with Optimization (ACO)

• Adaptive Control with Constraints (ACC), and
• Geometric Adaptive Control (GAC)
ACO System
• The ACO Systems for N/C machine tools is a control system that optimizes
performance index subjects to various constraints.
• It is basically a sophisticated closed loop control system, which automatically
works in optimum conditions, even in the presences of work piece and tools
materials variations.
Basic Structure of ACO System

Yormi Koren, Adaptive Control Systems for Machining

Adaptive Control with Optimization (ACO)

Coppel et al. 2016 Adaptive control optimization in micro-milling of hardened steels-evaluation of optimization approaches
Flow chart for the ACO system

Coppel et al. 2016 Adaptive control optimization in micro-milling of hardened steels-evaluation of optimization approaches
Drawback of ACO
• Requires on-line measurement of tool wear
• Not industrially acceptable
• Indirect measurement assumes that tool wear is proportional to other
measurable variables such as cutting forces and temperatures.
• Variations in their values can be caused by process variations other
than tool wear, such as workpiece hardness or cutting conditions.
• It is difficult to identify the tool wear effect from the effect of the
other parameter variations on the measurements.
Adaptive Control with Constraints (ACC)

• With ACC, the machining variables are maximized within a

prescribed region bounded by process and system constraints,
such as maximum force or power. ACC systems, however, do not
use a performance index and their operating point is always on the
constraints.
ACC
• ACC are systems in which machining conditions such as spindle speed
or feed rate are maximized within the prescribed limits of machines
and tool constrains such as maximum torque, force or horsepower.
• In AC system the correct feed and speed are automatically found, and
it is not necessary to spend efforts on calculations of optimum feeds and
speeds.
• ACC systems do not utilize a performance index and are based on
maximizing a machining variable (e.g., feed rate) subject to process
and machine constraints (e.g., allowable cutting force on the tool, or
maximum power of the machine).
• The objective of most ACC types of systems is to increase the MRR
during rough cutting operations.
Basic Structure of ACC

Yormi Koren, Adaptive Control Systems for Machining

Flow chart for the ACC system

ACC for turning process

The model reference adaptive control based ACC milling system

Liu et al. 2001 Adaptive Control Constraint of Machining Processes

ACC Example
• For example, to maximize the machining feed-rate while maintaining a
constant load on the cutter, despite variations in width and depth of cut.
• In a normal CNC system, the feed-rate is programmed to accommodate the
largest width and depth in a particular cut, and this small feed-rate is
maintained along the entire cut. As a result, the machining rate is reduced.
• By contrast, with the ACC system, the maximum allowable load (e.g., cutting
force) on the cutter is programmed.
• As a result, when the width or depth of cut are small the feed-rate is high; when
either the width or depth of cut (or both) are increased, the feed-rate is
automatically reduced, and consequently the allowable load on the cutter is not
exceeded.
• The result is, the average feed with ACC is much larger than its programmed
counterpart.
Geometric Adaptive Control (GAC)

• In GACs the part quality is maintained in real time by

compensating for the deflection and wear of cutting tools. By their
definitions ACC systems usually applied in rough cutting and GAC
systems in finish operations.
• The objective of GAC is to achieve:-
➢ the required dimensional accuracy and
➢ a consistency of surface finish of machined parts despite tool
wear or tool deflection
Drawback of GAC
• Both the dimensional accuracy and the surface finish are
affected by the flank wear and the crater wear of the tools
which deteriorate during cutting.
• These variables cannot be measured in real time; neither
can they be accurately predicted from off-line tool testing.
Benefits of Adaptive Control
• Increased production rates
• Increased tool life
• Greater part protection
• Less operator intervention
Limitations
• Unavailability of suitable sensors that have a reliable
operation in a manufacturing environment . (Tool wear
sensor).
• Interface of an Adaptive control system with CNC units.
Yet, manufacturers have not standardized interfaces.