CNC Machines: How They Work and Their Key Principles

CNC machines are the actual machine where finished products are made. They are known for their high accuracy, working ease and automatic control. There are different machine tools that are CNC such as, drilling, lathe, milling etc.

Today we’ll be looking at the working principle of CNC machine.

How CNC machine work:

The working of a CNC machine is quite interesting due to the fact that it is a computer base. The machine works based on CAD and CAM programs as well as computer control. just as earlier mentioned, the CAD (Computer-Aided Diagram) is a drawing software of the item to be produced, which serves as a carbon-copy of the product. That is, the computer automatically produces what the CAD displays. It is also used to improve the productivity of the designer, improve communication through documentation, improve quality of design and create a backup file for the next production.

Read: Everything you need to know about rolling process

Whereas, CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) features two different code such as G-codes and M-codes on which all programs are written and feed to the machine to perform various operations i.e. the turning and grooving operation on a lathe.

The first to do when working on a CNC machine is to write and insert the part program which is G-code and M-code. This will be done in the Machine control unit of the CNC machine, which allows all data process to takes place. It will then send it to the driving system, which helps to controls the motion and velocity of the machine tool.

There is a feedback system that records the position and velocity measurement of the machine tool and sends a feedback signal to the MCU. This MCU then compares the feedback signals with the reference signal to check for errors and if there is, it corrects it and sends a new signal to the machine tool. CNC machines also feature a display unit which is used to see commands, programs and other important data.

Read: Controls Codes for CNC machines

The video below contains the working of lathe CNC machine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peuvASjUsJI&vl=en

That’s it for this article “how CNC machines work”. I hope the knowledge is attained, if so, kindly comment and share with other students. Thanks!