Closed-Loop Positioning Systems

A closed-loop NC system uses servomotors and feedback measurements to ensure

that the worktable is moved to the desired position. A common feedback sensor
used for NC (and also for industrial robots) is the optical encoder. An optical
encoder consists of a light source and a photodetector on either side of a disk. The
disk contains slots uniformly spaced around the outside of its face. These slots allow
the light source to shine through and energize the photodetector. The disk is
connected, either directly or through a gear box, to a rotating shaft whose angular
position and velocity are to be measured. As the shaft rotates, the slots cause the light
source to be seen by the photocell as a series of flashes. The flashes are converted
into an equal number of electrical pulses. By counting the pulses and computing the
frequency of the pulse train, worktable position and velocity can be determined.
• The equations that define the operation of a closed-loop NC positioning system
aresimilar to those for an open-loop system.
Close loop system
Rotary Encoders: a device to measure the angular displacement. It cannot measure
linear displacement directly so that error may occur due to the backlash of screw and
motor etc.
 PROBLEM STATEMENT
An NC worktable operates by closed-loop positioning. The system consists of a
servomotor, leadscrew, and optical encoder. The leadscrew has a pitch = 6.0 mm and is
coupled to the motor shaft with a gear ratio of 5: I (5 turns of the drive
motor for each turn of the leadscrew). The optical encoder generates 48 pulses/
rev of its output shaft. The encoder output shaft is coupled to the Leadscrew
with a 4: 1 reduction (4 turns of the encoder shaft for each turn of the leadscrew).
The table has been programmed to move a distance of 250 mm at a feed
rate = 500 mm/min. Determine (a] how many pulses should be received by
the control system to verify that the table has moved exactly 250 mm, (b) the
pulse rate of the encoder, and (c) the drive motor speed that correspond to the
specified feed rate
 Precision in NC Positioning

For accurate machining or other processing performed by an NC

system, the positioning system must possess a high degree of
precision.
Three measures of precision can be defined for an NC positioning
system:
(I) control resolution
(2) accuracy
(3) repeatability
• Control resolution
It refers to the control system's ability to divide the total range of the
axis movement into closely spaced points that can be distinguished by
the MCU. Control resolution is defined as the distance separating two
adjacent addressable points in the axis movement.
• Addressable points are locations along the axis to which the
worktable can be specifically directed to go.
• Electromechanical Factors affecting Control Resolution: Leadscrew,
pitch, gear ratio in the drive system, and the step angle in a stepping
motor for an open-loop system or the angle between slots in an
encoder disk for a closed-loop system.
• For an open loop positioning system driven by a stepper motor,
these factors can be combined into an expression that defines
control resolution as follows:
•
• Where, = control resolution of the electromechanical
components (mm,in)
• P= leadscrewpitch (mm/rev, in/rev)
• number of steps per revolution
• = gear ratio between the motor shaft and the leadscrew.
• For A closed-loop positioning system Control Resolution is:

• Gear reduction between the leadscrew and the encoder shaft

must be included.
•The second factor that limits control resolution is the number of bits
used by the MCU to specify the axis coordinate value.
For example, this limitation may be imposed by the bit storage capacity
of the controller. If B is the number of bits in the storage register for the
axis, then the number of control points into which the axis range can be
divided= Assuming that the control points are separated equally within
the range, then


where CR2= control resolution of the computer control system (mm, in)
L = axis range (mm, in).
The control resolution of the positioning system is the maximum of the
two values; that is,
CR=Max(CR1,CR2)
• CR2<=CR1
• A suitable criterion is in which electromechanical system is the
limiting factor that determines control resolution. Resolutions of
0.0025 mm (0.0001 in) are within the current state of NC technology.
• Accuracy
Accuracy is defined under 'Worst case conditions in which the desired
target point lies in the middle between two adjacent addressable
points. Since the table can only be moved to one or the other of the
addressable points, there will be an error in the final position of the
worktable.
This is the maximum possible positioning error, because if the target
were closer to either one of the addressable points, then the table
would be moved to the closer control point and the error would be
smaller.
• Accuracy=CR/2+3σ
• σ= standard deviation of the error distribution.
• Repeatability refers to the capability of the positioning system to
return to a given addressable point that has been previously
programmed. This capability can be measured in terms of the
location errors encountered when the system attempts to position
itself at the addressable point.
• The repeatability of any given axis of a positioning system is ±3
standard deviations of the mechanical error distribution
associated with the axis. This can be written:
• Repeatability = ±3σ
• The repeatability of a modem NC machine tool is around ±O.OO25
mm (±O.OOO1) in).
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Suppose the mechanical inaccuracies in the open-loop positioning

system of are described by a normal distribution with standard
deviationσ= 0.005 mm. The range of the worktable axis is 1000
mm, and there are 16 bits in the binary register used by the
digital controller to store the programmed position. Other
relevant parameters are: pitch p = 6.0 mm, gear ratio between
motor shaft and leadscrew rg = 5.0and number of step angles
in the stepping motor ns = 48. Determine (a) the control
resolution. (b) the accuracy (c) the repeatability for the
positioning system.
 NC Part Programming

NC part programming consists of planning and documenting the

sequence of processing steps to be performed on an NC machine.
The part programmer must have a knowledge of machining as well
as geometry and trigonometry.
The part programming involves the input medium used to transmit
the program of instructions to the NC machine control unit (MCU).
Recently the use of magnetic tape and floppy disks have been
growing in popularity as storage technologies for NC The advantage
of these input media is their much higher data density.
Part programming can be accomplished using a variety of
procedures ranging from highly manual to highly automated
methods. The methods are:
(1) manual part programming
(2) computer-assisted part programming
(3) part programming using CAD/CAM
(4) manual data input.
 NC Coding System

The program of instructions is communicated to the machine tool

using a coding system based on binary numbers. This NC coding
system is the low-level machine language that can be understood
by the MCU. when higher level languages are used. such as APT
the statements in the program are converted to this basic code. IN
NC Coding the instructions are written in this NC code to control
the relative positions of the tool and workpiece and to accomplish
the other functions of the machine tool.
• Binary Numbers and the Binary Coded Decimal System.
In the binary number system, each digit can take on either of two values, 0
or 1. The meaning of consecutive digits in the binary system is based on the
number 2 raised to successive powers. Starting from the right the first digit is
2°(which equals 1.)The two numbers, O or 1,in successive digit position
indicate the presence or absence of the value. For example, the binary
number 0101at is equal to the decimal number 5.
Convert the number 0101 from binary to decimal.
To deal with these problems in NC, a combination of the binary and decimal
number systems has been adopted, called the binary-coded decimal (BCD)
system.
In this coding scheme, each of the ten digits (0-9) in the decimal system is
coded as a four-digit binary number, and these binary numbers are added in
sequence as in the decimal number system. For example, the decimal value
1250 would be coded in BCD as follows:
Number of sequence Binary number Decimal number

First 0001 1000

Second 0010 200

Third 0101 50

Fourth 0000 0

Sum 1250
 CNC Programming
 Programming consists of a series of instructions in form of letter codes

Preparatory Codes:
 G codes- Initial machining setup and establishing operating conditions
 N codes- specify program line number to executed by the MCU

 Axis Codes: X,Y,Z - Used to specify motion of the slide along X, Y, Z

direction
 Feed and Speed Codes: F and S- Specify feed and spindle speed

 Tool codes: T – specify tool number

Miscellaneous codes – M codes For coolant control and other activities

 NC Part Programming Using CAD/CAM

A CAD/CAM system is a computer interactive graphics system

equipped with software to accomplish certain tasks in design and
manufacturing and to integrate the design and manufacturing
functions. One of the important tasks performed on a CAD/CAM
system is NC part programming. In this method of part
programming, portions of the procedure usually done by the part
programmer are instead done by the computer.
The two main tasks of the part programmer in computer-assisted
programming are (1) defining the part geometry (2) specifying the
tool path.
• Geometry Definition Using CAD/CAM.
A fundamental objective of CAD/CAM is to integrate the design
engineering and manufacturing engineering functions. Certainly
one of the important design functions is to design the individual
components of the product. If a CAD/ CAM system is used, a
computer graphics model of each part is developed by the
designer and stored in the CAD/CAM data base. That model
contains all of the geometric, dimensional, and material
specifications for the part.
When the same CAD/CAM system, or a CAM system that has
access to the same CAD data base in which the part model
resides, is used to perform NC part programming, it makes little
sense to recreate the geometry of the part during the
programming procedure.
The significant advantage of using CAD/CAM in this way is that it
eliminates one of the time consuming steps in computer-assisted
part programming: geometry definition. After the part geometry
has been retrieved, the usual procedure is to label the geometric
elements that will be used during part programming. These labels
are the variable names (symbols) given to the lines, circle and
surfaces that comprise the part. Most systems have the capacity
to automatically label the geometry elements of the part and to
display the labels on the monitor.
If the NC programmer does not have access to the data base, then
the geometry of the part must be defined. This is done by using
similar interactive graphics techniques that the
product designer would use to design the part. Points are defined in
a coordinate system using the computer graphics system, lines and
circles are defined from the points and surfaces to construct a
geometric model of the part. The advantage of using the interactive
graphics system over conventional computer-assisted part
programming is that the programmer receives immediate visual
verification of the definitions being created. This tends to improve
the speed and accuracy of the geometry definition process
• Tool Path Generation Using CAD/CAM.

The main task of the NC programmer in computer-assisted part

programming is tool path specification. Firstly, select the cutting tool for the
operation. Most CADICAM systems have tool libraries that can be called by
the programmer to identify what tools are available. The programmer must
decide which of the available tools is appropriate for the operation under
consideration and specify it for the tool path. This permits the tool diameter
and other dimensions to be entered automatically for tool offset
calculations.
The next step is tool path definition. A more-advanced approach for
generating tool path commands is to use one of the
automatic software modules available on the CAD/CAM system. These
modules have been developed to accomplish a number of common
machining cycles for milling, drilling, and turning.
Some Common NC Modules for Automatic Programming of Machining Cycles

• Profile milling Generates cutter path around the periphery of a part, usually a 2-D
contour where depth remains constant.

Generates the tool path (a) to machine a cavity. A series of cuts is

• Pocket Milling usually required to complete the bottom of the cavity to the desired
depth.

Generates tool path for a series of turning cuts (b) to provide a

• Contour Turning defined contour on a rotational part.

Generates tool path for a series of facing cuts (c) to remove excess
stock from the part face or to create a shoulder on the part by a
• Facing series of facing operations.

Generates tool path for a series of threading cuts to cut external,

internal, or tapered threads on a rotational part, as shown in Fig. d
• Threading for external threads.