Abstract
(Englisch)
|
The STEP-NC project is developing and implementing a comprehensive STEP-based data model for the CNC manufacturing process. It will provide a new quality of IT-based manufacturing by integrating the shop floor into the company-wide information and logistics network, thus cutting process times significantly.
Rather than just feeding NC programs to the shop floor, machine operators will be provided with full process information. Manufacturing know-how can be captured and re-used.
The project will extend the results of EP 8643 OPTIMAL and ISO 14649 CD beyond their milling- oriented focus to all major manufacturing technologies (turning, grinding, EDM, wood and glass cutting, rapid prototyping). This is a prerequisite for establishing a widely accepted standard, thus replacing the obsolete ISO 6983. A strong consortium of key vendors of NC controllers, CAM systems, and machine tools as well as large and small end users will provide enough impact for the new standard to succeed.
The objectives of the project are to
.provide the machine operator and the NC controller with the most complete information as required to operate and monitor the machining process safely, fast, and at high quality
.make the full potential of the new data model accessible for the end user
.By the use of object- and feature oriented programming assigned only to the workpiece to be machined and the related technologies, data will be independent of the used machine-tools or CNC controls, which will result in considerable cost savings, as no machine- or controller specific data preparation will be needed.
.The basic new data model ISO 14649, actual in the D'S stage for milling and drilling technology, will be extended to other manufacturing technologies and test implementations will provide the needed feedback to correct errors and optimise the model.
STEP-NC will render results in two areas:
.development of the STEP-based manufacturing data model
.methods and tools to improve the work flow and quality in the CAD/CAM/CNC process chain.
The main work in this year was concentrated i.) on the development of the data model for wire and sink EDM and ii.) on the development of software implementations based on the wire-EDM data model.
EPFL was the leader of the Workpackage 5 of the project. This workpackage was concerned with the development of data models for the non-milling technologies.
.Task 5.1 on the contour cutting model is finished. The example STEP-NC file was generated and the draft international standard of Part 14 of ISO 14649 standard is compiled (Part 14: PROCESS DATA FOR CONTOURING)
.Task 5.2 on the turning model is finished, The data model is discussed with industrial partners and presented to the ISO committee. The draft international standard of Part 12 of ISO 14649 standard is compiled (Part 12: PROCESS DATA FOR TURNING)
.Task 5.4 is the wire-EDM model. The data model is finished. It was presented to the industrial partners and the postprocessor to two different machines, a Charmilles and an AGIE machine are created. The draft international standard of Part 13/1 of ISO 14649 standard is compiled (Part 13/1: PROCESS DATA FOR wire-EDM)
.Task 5.5 is the sink-EDM model. The data model is finished. The draft international standard of Part 13/2 of ISO 14649 standard is compiled (Part 13/2: PROCESS DATA FOR sink-EDM)
The data models are presented to the reviewer of the project in the Deliverable 5, which was accepted as regards its scientific, technical and administrative contents.
The implementation work was done in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the model. We have developed two implementations of the developed prototype SW structure. The first implementation is a STEP-NC file editor (StepWEDM), the second one is a plug-in into the commercial CAD/CAM system AlphaCAM. Since the two SW structures share common resources and their fundamental design are common, the partners focus their report only on the StepWEDM implementation. The machining processes are made on a Charmilles Robofil 240 wire-EDM machine. The machine is equipped with a Fanuc controller, type CT -millenium 180i CNC. In general, the data models are working correctly for 2- axis and 4-axis cutting operations. Editing of manufacturing parameters is also sufficient, access to the machining features at the NV level gives also more flexibility to the operator. The stand alone editor (StepWEDM) has the capability of generating CNC code starting from the STEP-NC data for AGIEVISION controller. The activities of this implementation were reported in the the deliverable 6.2.1 to the reviewer of the project. This deliverable was in line with the requirements as regards its scientific, technical and administrative contents. The deliverable 6.2.1 was accepted.
With this work the project ESPIRIT project was concluded successfully from our side.
|
