An eXtended Manufacturing Integrated System for feature based manufacturing with STEP-NC

International audienceCNC feature-based programming with STEP-NC standard extends the collaborative model of manufacturing data exchange all along the numerical data chain. This paper considers the mutations related to this approach from the manufacturing system level to the industrial enterprise as a whole. The eXtended Manufacturing Integrated System concept is introduced to fill in the gap of the current manufacturing data exchange bottleneck. It is composed of eXtended CAD and eXtended CNC systems to link the CAD model to the real machined part through the Manufacturing Information Pipeline. The contributions associated with these concepts are demonstrated through a validation platform implemented on industrial CNC manufacturing equipments

A cyber-physical machine tool framework based on STEP-NC

Cyber-Physical Machine Tool (CPMT) is one of the main concepts that has emerged with the rise of Industry 4.0 and Machine Tool 4.0. It integrates the physical machine tool and machining processes with computation and networking by creating a Machine Tool Digital Twin (MTDT). Standard for the Exchange of Product data compliant Numerical Control (STEP-NC) defines a machine independent bi-directional data standard for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) systems. It is capable of transferring richer information compared to conventional G-codes. All machine tools in the manufacturing field have physical variances between each other which affect the final machining quality. At present, physical variances between machines are manually compensated by human experiences which is not a consistent method. In this paper, we propose an intelligent CPMT framework for machining parameter optimization based on STEP-NC data model with the capability of taking the physical variances between machine tools into account. This framework correlates real-time physical and numerical data of the machine tool with the rich machining information contained in the STEP-NC model to establish a sustainable machining knowledge base. Established machining knowledge base is utilized for both offline and real-time machining parameter optimizations inside the framework

A cyber-physical machine tool framework based on STEP-NC

Cyber-Physical Machine Tool (CPMT) is one of the main concepts that has emerged with the rise of Industry 4.0 and Machine Tool 4.0. It integrates the physical machine tool and machining processes with computation and networking by creating a Machine Tool Digital Twin (MTDT). Standard for the Exchange of Product data compliant Numerical Control (STEP-NC) defines a machine independent bi-directional data standard for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) systems. It is capable of transferring richer information compared to conventional G-codes. All machine tools in the manufacturing field have physical variances between each other which affect the final machining quality. At present, physical variances between machines are manually compensated by human experiences which is not a consistent method. In this paper, we propose an intelligent CPMT framework for machining parameter optimization based on STEP-NC data model with the capability of taking the physical variances between machine tools into account. This framework correlates real-time physical and numerical data of the machine tool with the rich machining information contained in the STEP-NC model to establish a sustainable machining knowledge base. Established machining knowledge base is utilized for both offline and real-time machining parameter optimizations inside the framework

Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) Method and Its Applications in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud

The integration of cyber-physical systems and cloud manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize existing manufacturing systems by enabling better accessibility, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a communication method of manufacturing services over the Internet to access and manage physical machines from cloud applications. Most of the existing industrial automation protocols utilize Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN) and are not designed specifically for Internet enabled data transmission. Recently MTConnect has been gaining popularity as a standard for monitoring status of machine tools through RESTful web services and an XML based messaging structure, but it is only designed for data collection and interpretation and lacks remote operation capability. This dissertation presents the design, development, optimization, and applications of a service-oriented Internet-scale communication method named Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) for exchanging manufacturing services in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud (CPMC) to enable manufacturing with heterogeneous physically connected machine tools from geographically distributed locations over the Internet. MTComm uses an agent-adapter based architecture and a semantic ontology to provide both remote monitoring and operation capabilities through RESTful services and XML messages. MTComm was successfully used to develop and implement multi-purpose applications in in a CPMC including remote and collaborative manufacturing, active testing-based and edge-based fault diagnosis and maintenance of machine tools, cross-domain interoperability between Internet-of-things (IoT) devices and supply chain robots etc. To improve MTComm’s overall performance, efficiency, and acceptability in cyber manufacturing, the concept of MTComm’s edge-based middleware was introduced and three optimization strategies for data catching, transmission, and operation execution were developed and adopted at the edge. Finally, a hardware prototype of the middleware was implemented on a System-On-Chip based FPGA device to reduce computational and transmission latency. At every stage of its development, MTComm’s performance and feasibility were evaluated with experiments in a CPMC testbed with three different types of manufacturing machine tools. Experimental results demonstrated MTComm’s excellent feasibility for scalable cyber-physical manufacturing and superior performance over other existing approaches

Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) Method and Its Applications in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud

The integration of cyber-physical systems and cloud manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize existing manufacturing systems by enabling better accessibility, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a communication method of manufacturing services over the Internet to access and manage physical machines from cloud applications. Most of the existing industrial automation protocols utilize Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN) and are not designed specifically for Internet enabled data transmission. Recently MTConnect has been gaining popularity as a standard for monitoring status of machine tools through RESTful web services and an XML based messaging structure, but it is only designed for data collection and interpretation and lacks remote operation capability. This dissertation presents the design, development, optimization, and applications of a service-oriented Internet-scale communication method named Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) for exchanging manufacturing services in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud (CPMC) to enable manufacturing with heterogeneous physically connected machine tools from geographically distributed locations over the Internet. MTComm uses an agent-adapter based architecture and a semantic ontology to provide both remote monitoring and operation capabilities through RESTful services and XML messages. MTComm was successfully used to develop and implement multi-purpose applications in in a CPMC including remote and collaborative manufacturing, active testing-based and edge-based fault diagnosis and maintenance of machine tools, cross-domain interoperability between Internet-of-things (IoT) devices and supply chain robots etc. To improve MTComm’s overall performance, efficiency, and acceptability in cyber manufacturing, the concept of MTComm’s edge-based middleware was introduced and three optimization strategies for data catching, transmission, and operation execution were developed and adopted at the edge. Finally, a hardware prototype of the middleware was implemented on a System-On-Chip based FPGA device to reduce computational and transmission latency. At every stage of its development, MTComm’s performance and feasibility were evaluated with experiments in a CPMC testbed with three different types of manufacturing machine tools. Experimental results demonstrated MTComm’s excellent feasibility for scalable cyber-physical manufacturing and superior performance over other existing approaches

Usinagem remota de peças prismáticas via internet em uma máquina cnc aderente ao padrão step-nc

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Mecânica, Florianópolis, 2014O atual padrão de programação dos centros de usinagem é ainda a norma (ISO 6983-1), conhecido como código G, que foi desenvolvido no final de 1950. Essa linguagem contém informações de baixo nível que efetuam o movimento da ferramenta no processo de usinagem, dificultando a tomada de decisões pelo operador no processo de usinagem. Por este motivo, a norma (ISO 6983-1) é uma das atuais limitações de flexibilidade e interoperabilidade na fabricação de peças. Diante disto, nos anos 1990 foi proposto um novo modelo de dados para os processos de usinagem, estendendo o padrão STEP - norma (ISO 10303-1) - para o novo padrão, denominado STEP-NC (ISO 14649-1), que foi desenvolvido como resultado de vários projetos realizados por empresas e universidades. No presente trabalho descreve-se o desenvolvimento e validação de software e hardware que permite o usuário comandar uma fresadora CNC tipo pórtico de maneira que ela venha a usinar peças de maneira aderente ao padrão STEP-NC norma (ISO 14649-11). O STEP-NC se baseia no conceito de workingsteps, features de usinagem e operações de usinagem, entre outras entidades descritas pela norma (ISO 14649-1). O software STEP-NC Controller foi desenvolvido utilizando a linguagem de programação Java, que possibilitou a criação de uma interface de controle da fresadora CNC para o processo de usinagem. Foi utilizada a programação do código aberto GRBL (software de controle e movimentos em máquinas) aderente à norma RS-274 (códigos G e M), para programar o microcontrolador Arduino MEGA2560 na linguagem de programação C. A programação do código G foi retirada do GRBL para dar lugar à programação do padrão STEP-NC baseado na norma (ISO 14649-1), permitindo assim que o arquivo no formato p21 (do padrão STEP) seja interpretado e enviado aos eixos de coordenadas da fresadora CNC. Uma conexão direta foi estabelecida entre o software STEP-NC Controller e a placa de 8 relés, para permitir que a fresadora CNC trabalhe de forma seletiva (código G e M ou STEP-NC). Além disso, uma operação remota da máquina via Internet foi implementada, possibilitando assim o envio do arquivo p21 via web, além do processo de usinagem poder ser acompanhado via webcam local.The current standard programming of machine centers is still the (ISO 6983-1) standard, known as G-code, which was developed in the 1950s. This language contains low-level information performing the movement of the tool in the machining process, making it difficult for the operator to take decisions in machining. For this reason, the (ISO 6983-1) standard currently limits significantly the flexibility and interoperability part manufacturing. Given this scenario, in the 1990s a new data model for manufacturing processes was proposed to extend the STEP standard (ISO 10303-1), called STEP-NC (ISO 14649-1 standard), which was developed as a result of numerous projects by companies and universities. In this paper we describe the development and validation of software and hardware that allows the user to command a CNC gantry milling machine so that it will machine parts using the STEP-NC standard (ISO 14649-11). STEP-NC is based on the concept of workingsteps, machining features and machining operations, among other entities described by the standard (ISO 14649-1). The STEP-NC Controller software was developed using the Java programming language, which enabled the creation of a control interface for the CNC milling machining process. Programming compliant with the RS-274 standard (G and M codes) generated by the open source software GRBL (software and control movements on machines) was used to program the Arduino MEGA2560 microcontroller in the C programming language. G-code programming was removed from GRBL in order to make room for use of the STEP-NC standard (ISO 14649-1), thus allowing the physical file p21 (a part of the STEP standard) to be interpreted and sent to the axes of the CNC milling machine. A direct connection is established between the STEP-NC Controller and a board with 8 relays to allow the CNC milling machine to work selectively (either with G and M code or STEP-NC). Remote operation of the machine via the Internet was also implemented, allowing the sending of a p21 file via web, and the machining process can be monitored via webcam

Process Comprehension for Interoperable CNC Manufacturing

Over the last 40 years manufacturing industry has enjoyed a rapid growth with the support of various computer-aided systems (CAD, CAPP, CAM etc.) known as CAx. Since the first Numerically Controlled (NC) machine appeared in 1952, there have been many advances in CAx resource capabilities. The information integration and interoperability between different manufacturing resources has become an important and popular research area over the last decade. Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines are an important link in the manufacturing chain and the major contributor to the production capacity of manufacturing industry today. However, most of the research has focused on the information integration of upper systems in the CAD/CAPP /CAM/CNC manufacturing chain, leaving the shop floor as an isolated information island. In particular, there is limited opportunity to capture and feed shopfloor knowledge back to the upper systems. Furthermore, the part programs for the machines are not exchangeable due to the. machine specific postprocessors. Thus there is a further need to consider information interoperability between different CNC machine and other systems. This research investigates the reverse transformation of the CNC part programmes into higher level of process information, entitled process comprehension, to enable the shopfloor interoperability. A novel framework of universal process comprehension is specified and designed. The framework provides a reverse direction of information flow from the CNC machine to upper CAx systems, enabling the interoperability and recycling of the shopfloor knowledge. A prototype implementation of the framework is realised and utilised to demonstrate the functionalities through three industrially inspired test components. The major contribution of this research to knowledge is the new vision of the shopfloor interoperability associated with process knowledge capture and reuse. The research shows that process comprehension of part programmes can provide an effective solution to the issues of the shopfloor interoperability and knowledge reuse in manufacturing industries.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo