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5-AXIS PROGRAMMING EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS
Echternach, Luxembourg – GE Fanuc has introduced new features for its Series 30i-MODEL A and the Series 31i- MODEL A5 CNCs. These offer increased productivity when the controllers are used with complex 5-axis machines. The additional features include Cutting Point Command, enhancements to the Tilted Working Plane command, and 3-D Interference Avoidance in Tool Radius Compensation mode. The Cutting Point Command simplifies the programmer's task by automatically calculating the cutting point of contoured tools. The tool path is programmed and the controller automatically compensates for any change of tool type, tool radius or tool length maintaining the correct cutting point on the surface without need for any changes to the original program. The Tilted Working Plane command improves programming efficiency by automatically creating a new, inclined working plane by shifting and rotating the workpiece coordinate system. At the same time, the tool axis is automatically oriented perpendicular to the new working plane. New, user-friendly input formats for the TWP command offer enhanced programming support. The programmer can now use the existing Euler angle format, a new Roll, Pitch and Yaw format, a new 3-Points Command, or a new Tool Axis Direction command when programming from machining drawings. The 3-Points command defines a new working plane based on the programming of 3 position points located in the working space. The Tool Axis Direction command automatically defines the working plane as perpendicular to the current tool axis direction. 3-Dimensional Interference Avoidance is part of the Tool Radius Compensation feature. It automatically checks for any interference in 3-D space between the tool and the programmed workpiece path owing to the use of wrongly sized tools. A 3-Dimensional Interference Check feature enables the definition of objects in 5-axis machining space to prevent possible collisions during operations. The rotary tool, the work piece and the table and fixture, for example, can all be defined within right-angled space-frames. The controller will then use this 3-D information to avoid possible collisions. The Series 30i-Model A and the Series 31i-Model A5 have provided a major advance in the control of machine tools performing 5-axis machining. Nano interpolation means that their movement commands are calculated with nanometre accuracy. This is fully exploited by the Nano-smoothing feature which converts linear programs to NURBS in real-time. In conjunction with a 1000 blocks look-ahead capability, this facilitates the attainment of the highest quality surface finishes. Other advanced features that make the GE Fanuc CNCs easy to program include Tool Centre Point control, which ensures tool length compensation in the tool axis direction even if the tool axis direction changes while cutting a surface; and Tool Posture Control, which controls the path of the tool centre point as well as the tool direction, making it particularly useful for side cutting by avoiding unintentional stock removal while cutting pockets, for example. Another new feature is Workpiece Setting Error Compensation. It automatically compensates for errors possibly occurring after re-clamping a workpiece following a machining process interruption for measurements or special treatment.
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