Lathes and turning centers are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably. A lathe consists of a cutting tool and a rotating workpiece. The CNC program controls the position of the cutting tool along the way-guide.
Inspection machines inspect products for a particular attribute (e.g., color, size, and/or mass) and reject items fail to meet pre-set values. They can be integrated with other CNC-controlled machines.
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CNC controllers provide complete kits for converting a manual machine to a CNC-controlled machine. All retrofit kits contain common components such as software, signal generator(s), controller(s), motor(s) and cabling.
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Attached resource computer network (ARCNET) is an embedded, high-speed, token-based network technology that provides local area network (LAN) communications between computers. ARCNET relies on a bus or star topology and can support up to 255 nodes. Different versions run at speeds of 1.5 Mbps, 20 Mbps (ARCNET Plus), and 100 Mbps.
Controller area network bus (CANbus) is a high-speed serial data network designed for harsh electrical environments and real-time control applications. It operates at data rates up to 1 Mbps and provides excellent error detection and confinement capabilities.
Control network (ControlNet) allows multiple controllers to control I/O on the same link. It is well-suited for peer-to-peer systems and offers deterministic, repeatable performance for both discrete and process applications.
DeviceNet uses controller area network (CAN) network protocol to connect industrial devices such as limit switches, photoelectric cells, valve manifolds, motor starters, drives, and operator displays to programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and personal computers (PCs).
Ethernet is a local area network (LAN) protocol that uses a bus or star typology and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps. The Ethernet specification is the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. To handle simultaneous demands, Ethernet uses carrier sense multiple access / collision detection (CSMA/CD) to monitor network traffic.
Parallel industrial communications transmits data by sending bits down parallel electrical paths simultaneously. IEEE 1284, a standard from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is the most prevalent form. IEEE 1284 defines bi-directional parallel communications between computers and peripherals such as printers, storage devices and modems.
The process fieldbus (PROFIBUS®) is a popular, open communication standard used in factory automation, process automation, motion control, and safety applications. PROFIBUS is standardized in IEC 71158 and IEC 61784 and is suitable for both fast, time-critical applications and complex communication tasks. PROFIBUS is a registered trademark of PROFIBUS International.
Serial real-time communications system (SERCOS) is an open-standard, digital drive interface specification for communications between controllers and intelligent devices. SERCOS is designed for the high-speed serial transmission of standardized, closed-loop data in real-time over a noise-immune, fiber optic cable.
Universal serial bus (USB) is a 4-wire, 12-Mbps serial bus for low-to-medium speed peripheral device connections to personal computers (PC), including keyboards, mice, modems, printers, joysticks, audio functions, monitor controls, etc. The USB design is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USBIF), an organization that includes leading companies from the computer and electronics industries. The current USB specification is USB 2.0, which supports data transfer rates of up to 480 Mbps.
Serial interfaces transmit data one bit at a time. Common standards include RS232, RS422, and RS485.
The RS232 standard is approved by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) for connecting serial devices. The device that connects to the interface is called data communication equipment (DCE). The device to which the interface is connected (the computer) is called data terminal equipment (DTE).
The RS422 standard is a balanced serial interface for the transmission of digital data that is designed to replace the older RS232 standard. RS422 supports greater distances, higher baud rates, and greater immunity to electrical interference than RS232. Like RS232, however, RS422 is intended for point-to-point communications.
The RS485 standard is similar to RS422, but used for multipoint communications.
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Drawing exchange format (DXF) files are used to exchange two- and three-dimensional (3D) drawings between different computer-aided design (CAD) programs. DXF files represent a shape as a wire-frame mesh with x, y, and z coordinates.
G-code is a programming language that can be downloaded to the controller in order to operate the machine. M-code is the standard machine-tool code used to switch on a spindle, coolant or auxiliary device.
Hewlett Packard Graphical Language (HPGL) was designed originally to send two-dimensional (2D) drawing information to pen plotters, but has since become a standard for the exchange of 2D drawing information between CAD programs.
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Polar coordinate command is a numerical control system in which all of the coordinates are referred to a certain pole. The position is defined by the polar radius and polar angle.
Linear and circular interpolation is the programmed path of the machine. It appears to be straight or curved, but is actually a series of very small steps along the path.
Canned cycles are machine routines such as drilling, deep drilling, reaming, tapping, and boring that involve a series of machine operations, but are specified by a single G-code with appropriate parameters.
Rigid tapping is a CNC tapping technique which feeds a tap into a workpiece at the precise rate needed for a perfectly tapped hole. Rigid tapping must retract at the same precise rate; otherwise, it shaves the hole or creates an out-of-spec tapped hole.
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Servo motors are precisely controlled by special drive electronics that use motor position feedback via encoders or resolvers (closed loop). Generally, the electronics and control algorithms are more sophisticated than those used with stepper motors. Consequently, servo motors provide smoother motion and more precise positioning.
Stepper motors provide incremental motion (steps) in response to pulses of current which alternately change the polarity of the stator poles. Stepper motors do not require feedback and are sometimes used in open loop or no-feedback applications.
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Alarms and event monitoring can help reduce down-time by avoiding collisions that can break tools or dies. They can also prevent other types of machine damaging incidents.
Behind tape readers (BTR) allow a program to be loaded from a computer into a machine's memory without using the tape reader. BTR is common in older machines.
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