Software development of remote operation system for the pin type fixture of cnc milling machine

Abstract

The use of computer technology in manufacturing industries can improve manufacturing flexibility significantly, especially in manufacturing processes; many software applications have been utilized to improve machining performance, however none of them has discussed the abilities to perform direct machining. In this thesis, an integrated system for remote operation and monitoring of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines is put into consideration. The integrated system includes computerization, network technology and improved holding mechanism. The work proposed by this research is mainly on the software development for such integrated system. It uses Java three Dimensional (3D) programming and Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) at the client side for visualization of machining environment. This research is aimed at developing a control system to remotely operate and monitor a self-reconfiguration fixture mechanism of a CNC milling machine through internet connection and integration of Personal Computer (PC)- based CNC controller, a server side, a client side and CNC milling. The performance of the developed system was evaluated by simulations using different types of common protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The developed software for the integrated system has been successfully tested on a CNC simulator, which is built based on Light-Emitting Diode (LED)s to represent of the pin type fixtures. By using TCP, the developed system requires 10.7 seconds to complete the close clamping, 7.9 seconds to release the clamping and can send 252 KB data when monitoring tool movement. On the other hand, the system only requires 3.9 seconds for close clamping, less than 1 second to release the clamping and it is able to deliver 463 KB when UDP protocol is implemented. UDP has been determined as the most suitable model for client-server architecture rather than TCP for real-time monitoring of the CNC milling, particularly for monitoring.