STEP-NC machine tool data model and its applications

Abstract

The machine tool data model of STEP-NC (ISO 14649) was conceived as a necessary extension to the original STEP-NC set of standards to make efficient control possible. The intention of this paper is to describe the background to the data model as well as related research work building on a higher level of information than can currently be found in the control information. The development of STEP-NC controllers promises improved manufacturing and resource use. However, even with legacy controllers there are advantages in using STEP-NC as an intermediate representation. This paper describes how the data model for describing machine capability was developed and what can be delivered by using this standard data model for machine tool. A machine tool selection algorithm is developed in order to validate the data model. Technical issues were derived from developing a system for process planning based on STEP-NC. Machine tools are selected automatically by the comparison with machine capability, work space and tolerance with the proposed data model. This function can contribute reconfigurable manufacturing systems and distributed and multi-controller-based manufacturing environment.

Keywords:

• machine tool data model
• STEP-NC
• process planning
• machine selection algorithm

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was in part supported by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea (Development of Integrated Operational Technologies for Smart Factory Application with Manufacturing Big Data), by Institute for Information & communications Technology Promotion of Korea (Establishment of the Testbed for a convergence of IoTs and manufacturing technology) and also funded by the EU FP7 project called Foundation for the Sustainable Factory of the Future (FP7-2010-NMP-ICT- FoF-260137).