Development of NC Machines

and its Control System

 Historical Development of NC
machines
 1947 was the year in which Numerical control was born. It
began because of an urgent need. John C Parsons of the
parson’s corporation, Michigan, invented a way of
coupling computer equipment with a jig borer.
 The US air force realized in 1949 that parts for its planes
and missiles were becoming more complex. Also the
designs were constantly being improved; changes in
drawings were frequently made.
 In 1951, the MIT took over the complete job and in 1952;
a prototype of NC machine was successfully
demonstrated. The term “Numerical Control” was coined
at MIT.
 In 1960, there were 100 NC machines at the machine tool
shown in Chicago and a majority of them were relatively
simple point to point application.
 During these years the electronics industry was busy. First
miniature electronic tubes were developed, then solid
state circuitry and then modular or integrated circuits.
Thus the reliability of the controls has been greatly
increased and they have become most compact and less
expensive.
 Today there are several hundred sizes and varieties of
machines, many options and many varieties of control
system available.
Part suitable for CNC machines:
 The number of operations are large
 Size of batches is medium
 Labour cost for the component is high
 Component require 100% inspection
 Set up and inspection time are high
 A large variety of component is produced
 The component requires highly skilled operator
 Comparison between conventional
machines and NC machines
 1. New NC machines cost around two to five times more
than the similar capacity conventional machines,
depending upon the sophistication of the control system
and the size of the machine.
 2. Conventional machines require a high order of skill and
trained personnel to operate to produce complex
contours.
 3. The machine hour rate is generally higher for the NC
machines or the down time of these machines is very
costly.
 4. Maintenance of NC machine is costlier than the
conventional machine.
 5. The production rate of NC machines is higher than that of
the conventional machines and they can produce complicated
profiles consistently with good accuracy.
 6. NC machines require special tooling. Because, these
machines are designed to operate at the very high operating
conditions (today, NC machines are capable of operating at
50,000 rpm) Tools made from carbon tool steel and HSS
cannot be used at such a high speed.
 7. Use of automatic tool changers to change the tool
automatically and simultaneous machining by multiple tools
are the features available with high-end NC machines. These
features help to reduce down time set-up time.
 Industrial Automation
Industrial automation deals primarily with the automation
of manufacturing, quality control and material handling
processes. General purpose controllers for industrial
processes include Programmable logic controllers and
computers.

Automation solutions are required right from

agricultural to space technology.
Plant Automation is the necessity for the
manufacturing industry to survive in today’s
globally competitive market
 What is Automation ?

Automation is basically the delegation of human control

function to technical equipment for

•Increasing Productivity
• Increasing Quality
• Reducing Cost
• Increasing Safety in working conditions
History of Automation

Programmable Logic Controller

Electronic Control using Logic Gates
Hard wired logic Control
Pneumatic Control
Manual Control
 Manual Control

Allthe actions related to process control are taken by the

operators

Drawbacks
 Likely human errors and consequently its effect on quality
of final product
 The production, safety, energy consumption and usage of
raw material are all subject to the correctness and accuracy
of human action.
 Pneumatic Control

Industrial automation, with its machine and process control,

had its origin in the 1920s with the advent of "Pneumatic
Controllers".
Actions were controlled by a simple manipulation of
pneumatic valves, which in turn were controlled by relays and
switches.

Drawbacks

• Bulky and Complex System

• Involves lot of rework to implement control logic
• Longer project time
 Hard wired logic control

The contactor and Relays together with hardware timers and

counters were used in achieving the desired level of automation

Drawbacks

• Bulky panels
• Complex wiring
• Longer project time
• Difficult maintenance and troubleshooting
 Electronic Control using Logic Gates

 In 1960s with the advent of electronics, the logic gates started

replacing the relays and auxiliary contactors in the control
circuits.
The hardware timers & counters were replaced by electronic
timers
Advantages
•Reduced space requirements
•Energy saving
•Less maintenance & greater reliability
Drawbacks
•Changes in control logic not possible
•More project time
 Programmable Logic Controllers

In 1970s with the coming of microprocessors and associated peripheral

chips, the whole process of control and automation underwent a radical
change.

Instead of achieving the desired control or automation through physical

wiring of control devices, in PLC it is achieved through a program or say
software.

The programmable controllers have in recent years experienced an

unprecedented growth as universal element in Industrial Automation.

It can be effectively used in applications ranging from simple control

like replacing small number of relays to complex automation problems
 Advantages of PLCs

 Reduced space
 Energy saving
 Ease of maintenance
 Economical
 Greater life & reliability
 Tremendous flexibility
 Shorter project time
 Easier storage, archiving and documentation
Industrial Automation Components …

 Field Instruments
 Control Hardware
 Control Software
 Sensors ( Field Instruments )

Sensors with transmitters are the field devices placed in

the field who actually sense the parameter and send the
analog signal to the control hardware.
The analog signals used are Ohm (RTD), mV
(Thermocouple), 4-20 mA, +/-10 V, etc
Widely used Sensors ( Field Instruments )

RTD : Output in Ohms (Temperature)

Thermocouples : Output in mV (Temperature)
Pressure Transmitters : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..
Flow Transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..
Level Transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..
Conductivity meter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..
Density meter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..
pH transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V …..

And Many more

Leading Manufacturers in Sensors
( Field Instruments )

Fisher Rosemount
Yokogawa
Anderson & Housers
Radix
ToshBro
 Control hardware

 Standalone PID Controllers

 Programmable logic controllers (PLC)

 Distributed Control System

 Standalone PID Controllers

These are the independent small hardware units

which caters requirement of closed loop controls in
the process.

These hardware can be installed in field or in control

room. These hardware can be connected on the
network.

Currently the controllers are available with 100s of

segment and programming patterns
 Typical Installations using PID Controllers

Controllers placed in field

RS-232

RS-485 Bus
Leading Manufacturers in PID Controllers

Yokogawa
ABB
Moore
Eurotherm
ASCON
Chino
Bells
Fuji
 Programmable Logic Controllers

Now a days PLCs are the most widely used control

hardware in control applications. The applications
ranges from standalone system for CNC machines to
Hot swappable Redundant System for Critical Process
Control
 What Constitutes A PLC ?

The PLC is programmed interface between the field I/p

element like limit switches, sensors, push button and the
final control elements like actuator, solenoid/control
valves, drives, hooters etc

PLC consist of
Input Module
CPU with Processor and Program memory
Output module
Bus System
Power Supply
 Configuration of PLC : Modicon

Built in display for I/O Programming Terminal PC Connection

(in-rack, AS-i) and Diag

8 Analog Inputs 1
Analog Output

I/O Modules
Up/Down Fast
Counter

Up Counter TSX37-22

Unitelway Port for connection PCMCIA communications port

of up to 5 Slaves
PCMCIA memory expansion port
 Configuration of PLC : Siemens

CPU

I/O Modules
External Power
Supply
 Configuration of PLC : Allen Bradley

CPU

I/O Modules
Power Supply
 Role of Engineers In
Industrial Automation

 Designing of the Automation system

 Erection and Commissioning
 Maintenance and Troubleshooting of existing system