A universal NC program processor design and prototype implementation for CNC systems

Since the NC program standard RS274D was invented decades ago, most computer numerical control (CNC) providers have extended this standard a lot to adapt their own specific functions. Thus, one NC program cannot be used in different CNC systems. In order to process different types of NC programs, a universal NC program processor was proposed for CNC systems in this paper. This processor has a unique structure which consists of two main components. One is an NC dictionary, which stores the specific NC program specification. The other is an interpreting engine, which checks NC programs and generates the primitive canonical machining functions by referring to the dictionary. The dictionary is constructed through defining NC block templates, block execution order table, block syntax procedures, and interpreter library for each NC command. A prototype system has been built to evaluate the proposed design followed by a successful case study.