Machining simulation method and apparatus

(54) MACHINING SIMULATION METHOD AND APPARATUS

(75) Inventors: William Richard Victor Edwards,

Sheffield (GB); Fenquian Lin, Sheffield
(GB)

(73) Assignee: Machine Works Limited, Sheffield
(GB)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 09/490,222

(22) Filed: Jan. 24, 2000

(30) Foreign Application Priority Data

Jan. 29, 1999 (GB) 9901887

(51) Int. C I. G06G 7/48

(52) U.S. CI 703/7; 700/97; 700/98;

700/176; 700/184

(58) Field of Search 703/7; 700/97,

700/98, 176, 184

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,789,931 A * 12/1988 Kuragano et al 700/176

5,101,363 A 3/1992 Rutkowski 703/7

5,128,870 A * 7/1992 Erdman et al 700/163

5,272,642 A * 12/1993 Suzuki 700/182

5,317,519 A 5/1994 Maeda 700/184

5,351,196 A * 9/1994 Sowar et al 700/182

5,594,651 A * 1/1997 St. Ville 700/98

5,703,782 A * 12/1997 Dundorf 700/182

5,710,709 A * 1/1998 Oliver et al 700/184

5,967,205 A * 10/1999 Welsh et al 144/117.1

6,341,996 Bl * 1/2002 Brien et al 451/8

6,363,298 Bl * 3/2002 Shin et al 700/160

6,459,952 Bl * 10/2002 Dundorf 700/182

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

Boussac, S.; Crosnier, A. "Swept volumes generated from deformable objects application to NC verification," Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1996, pp. 1813-1818 vol. 2.*

Zhou Ming; Li Jianguang; Yuan Zhejun; Tan Jiubin, "Study on simulation system for 3-axis NC milling," Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Control, and Instrumentation, IEEE IECON, vol.: 1, 1996 pp.: 637-640.*

Jerard et al., "Methods for Detecting Errors in Numerically Controlled Machining of Sculptured Surfaces", IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, vol. 9, issue 1, Jan. 1989, pp. 26-39.*

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—Hugh Jones

Assistant Examiner—Herng-der Day

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Adams Evans, PA.

A machining simulation method using a plurality of equally sized regular volumes such as cubes to represent the surface of a raw stock object at a relatively low resolution. Each regular volume contains a reference to that portion of the original stock surface falling within that regular volume. The regular volumes affected by the swept volume of each tool movement are readily determined, and a pointer to that tool movement is added to each affected regular volume. The finished data may be expanded in detail at any portion of interest to create fully realised surface geometry with full boundary information by combining the original stock surface and the relevant surfaces of each tool movement. The original stock object may be displayed using the lowresolution regular volumes from any convenient view point, and may be animated in real time to show the effects of each tool movement.

EP

0 513 369 8/1991

13 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets