MULTIPROCESS CONTROLLER REDUCES CYCLE TIME 25-50 PERCENT

GBI Cincinnati Inc.'s Revolution CV4020 is a general-purpose/die-mold machining center with a high-speed, multiprocessor controller capable of simultaneous eight-axis, 50,000-blocks/sec processing speed. This processing capacity allows the Revolution to achieve constant machining velocity, thus allowing GBI to guarantee very serious reductions in cycle time when milling complex prismatic parts. Conventional controllers have a look-ahead processing capacity of 600-3000 blocks/sec. High-end controllers may provide 5000 blocks/sec.

The great expansion of processing capacity, to 50,000 blocks/sec for eight simultaneously controlled axes, has a significant effect upon machine tool performance. The 50,000 blocks/sec processing speed is the minimum achieved when interpolating eight axes; in a three or four-axis system, the controller is just that much faster. Because the controller can handle the very high volume of data describing in detail the cutting tool path, the cutting head can maintain a nearly constant speed over the workpiece. This constant velocity along the cutting path eliminates the acc/dec experienced by the cutting head as a conventional controller moves it through a complex contour. Maintaining constant velocity over the workpiece, i.e. sustaining a cutting speed over the workpiece that is very near to the programmed speed, enables a guaranteed reduction in cycle time of 25 – 50 percent.

The controller has 80 smart data buffers, as compared to the four buffers found in conventional controls. The unit has 256 MG to 2 GB of RAM, and from 80 to 200 GB of hard drive memory. Able to run any CAD/CAM brand that can run in a Windows XP environment, the controller can handle mid-program restart without difficulty. Calculations in the controller are cut off at 15 decimal places, and the system monitors encoder counts at four million counts/sec.
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