Automatic cutter selection and optimal cutter path generation for prismatic parts

Abstract

NC code generation, if done manually, forms the bottleneck in a production system. Hence automatic NC code generation forms an important part of a totally automated manufacturing system. Most of the existing systems for this task consider cutter path generation only for limited part geometry. The work proposed here considers both optimum cutter size selection and cutter path generation. The work done encompasses almost all the features found on prismatic parts, such as slots, steps, projections, etc. First the finishing and roughing tools are selected based on minimum cutter motion criterion, then algorithms for determining the area within the cutter centre can move are outlined. The final part of the research deals with optimizing the cutter movement within this region. So here we have developed the algorithms to select an appropriate cutter and also to generate the cutter path and NC code for machining a pocket using any given cutter.