Abstract:
The research reported in this paper is a framework for adapting STandard for the Exchange of Products-(STEP-) compliant manufacturing information for a Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) machine. This STEP-compliant manufacturing information is represented in STEP-NC format containing information such as ‘Workplans’, ‘Workingsteps’ and ‘Machining Features’. This type of information is intended to be generic and machine-independent as it contains the information about ‘what-to-do’ rather than ‘how-to-do’. Each CNC machine (system) has its own physical configuration and control strategy. The ‘how-to-do’ information (e.g. machining sequence and cutter path) needs to be generated only when a machine tool is chosen for the job documented in the STEP-NC format that is, ‘what-to-do’ information. This framework consists of three parts: a Native CNC system database, an adaptor and a human–computer interface. The Native CNC system database is the foundation of the whole system since it contains all the native information about a specific CNC machine. The adaptor converts the generic manufacturing information into the native manufacturing information for a chosen machine tool.
