STEPNC AP238 Status Report

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STEP-NC AP-238 Status Report

• Martin Hardwick
• STEP Tools, Inc
• hardwick_at_steptools.com
• 518 687-2848 x 306

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Status of the Standard

• June 2005 approved for publication by ISO.
• June 2006 demonstration of machining given by
  Airbus and Boeing in Toulouse.
• September 2006 final technical content delivered
  for publication
• June 2007 formal publication by Geneva

STEP-NC is the first standard to deliver product
and process data to the CNC Control
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Toulouse Demonstration
Geometry
AP-203 File
Path 2 Direct Translation
Toolpaths, Feeds and Speeds
AP-238 File
Machine part
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New Applications

• Measurement on the CNC
• Build anywhere
• Closed loop manufacturing

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Program to machine a part
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Check this face!
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Define the operation
8
Export the codes
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Evaluate the results
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Measurement on the CNC

• Define position, flatness, dimension size, and
  form tolerances
• Evaluate planes, bsplines and cylinders
• Escape to Visual Basic or use built-in algorithms
  to measure

Measurement is within tolerance
Excess material on the part
Excess material removed from the part
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The STEP-NC DLL

• Technology developed by STEP Tools, Inc.
• A module that is added to the CNC control
• Reads STEP-NC data from CAM systems
• Generates machine codes and probing operations
• Uses measurements to improve accuracy
• Can be programmed in Visual Basic, Java, C

Closed Loop Program
CNC Independent Platform
Control Kernel
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Current Data Sources

• RS274D
• Haas
• Fanuc
• Siemens
• MDSI
• Okuma

• APT-CL
• CATIA
• UGS
• Pro/E
• Mastercam
• SCRA RAMP

CAD
PLM
STEP-NC AP-238 XML File
CAM
CNC
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Spacer Checking
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Surface Checking Results
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Surface Normal Probing
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Plane Probing
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Airframe surface evaluation
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Feature Control Frame
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Analysis Algorithms

• Machine independent algorithms in VB, C, Java
• Establish true location of datums
• Establish true performance of machine
• Adjust machining process for best possible
  accuracy
• More powerful, more portable

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2007 Projects

• On Machine Measurement
• Airbus, Boeing, NIST
• Build Anywhere
• Army, Navy, Swedish aerospace
• Closed Loop programming
• RPI

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Conclusion

• STEP-NC is control independent super-accurate
  machining and measurement
• Business case strongest for very large parts or
  very small parts that are hard to CMM
• Correct the machining process not the machine
• Applications being developed in
• USA, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Finland,
  Switzerland, Japan, Korea, China, India and NZ