Characteristics and Technologies of Advanced CNC Systems

Abstract

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) systems are the “backbones” of modern manufacturing industry for over the last 50 years and the machine tools have evolved from simple machines with controllers that had no memory and were driven by punched tape, to today’s highly sophisticated, multiprocess workstations. These CNC systems are still being worked and improved on. The key issues center on autonomous planning, decision making, process monitoring and control systems that can adjust automatically to the changeable requirements. Introduction of CNC systems has made it possible to produce goods with consistent qualities, apart from enabling the industry to enhance productivity with a high degree of flexibility in a manufacturing system. CNC systems sit at the end of the process starting from product design using Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools to the generation of machining instructions that instruct a CNC machine to produce the final product. This process chain also includes Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM).