In the context of automation equipment industry 4.0 and networking +, the future development and competition of CNC systems have a new reform, more competition in China will focus on how to use the advantages of the Internet, so that the computing power of CNC systems can be expanded indefinitely, and through the understanding of emerging business models such as sharing economy. Reasonable creation of corresponding functions has become an important trend in the future.
1. Intelligent requirements of CNC system
Demand for intelligent CNC machine tools
From the perspective of manufacturing technology itself, the intelligence of CNC system is carried out in four aspects as shown in Figure 4: intelligent operation, non-standard automation of processing, intelligent maintenance and intelligent management.
The performance of the machine tool is further improved through the use of various sensors and real-time monitoring and compensation technology during the machining process. Japan Mazak, Okuma and other companies provide many advanced technologies in terms of intelligence, such as spindle vibration suppression, intelligent collision prevention and other functions. Shenyang Machine Tool i5 CNC provides features based programming and graphical diagnosis functions.
2. Numerical control system based on cloud platform
Based on cloud computing, the University of Stuttgart in Germany proposed a "glocalized" cloud numerical control system. Its concept is shown in Figure 5. It can be seen from the figure that the human-machine interface, CNC core and PLC of traditional numerical control system are moved to the cloud, and only the servo drive and security control of the machine tool are retained locally. Add communication modules, middleware and Ethernet interfaces in the cloud, and communicate with the local CNC system through the router. In this way, there is a "Digital Twin" of each machine tool in the cloud, and the machine tool can be configured, optimized and maintained in the cloud, which greatly facilitates the use of the machine tool. Implement the so-called Control as a Service (CaaS).
The concept of cloud numerical control system A digital twin is a digital mirror image of a specific physical object, including design specifications and engineering models that describe its geometry, materials, components, and behavior, as well as production and operational data specific to the entity it represents, becoming an inseparable "companion" that is an up-to-date and accurate real-time mirror image of the physical object's properties and states, including shape, position, state, and motion. The digital twin of the machine tool can exist in multiple information domains at the same time, and has multiple "incarnations", which plays the role of program demonstration, structure and function verification and performance parameter optimization in the product design stage. Participate in layout planning, system optimization simulation and other work during the planning stage of plant construction; Process status judgment and prediction during the running phase, enabling intelligent control and preventive maintenance of the machine until the end of product obsolescence, and even after.
3. Internet numerical control system and its ecosystem
Under the conditions of the Internet, the CNC system must become a transparent intelligent terminal that can generate data, so that the manufacturing process and its full life cycle are "data transparent". Through the "transparency" of the intelligent terminal, the transparency of the manufacturing process is realized, which not only facilitates the processing of parts, but also generates real-time data serving management, finance, production and sales, and realizes the resource integration and information interconnection of a series of production and management links such as equipment, production planning, design, manufacturing, supply chain, manpower, finance, sales and inventory.
Shenyang Machine Tool Group has established a machine tool ecosystem around i5 intelligent machine tools in the world. Figure 6 is the schematic diagram of i5 intelligent machine tools on data generation and application. Through the "transparent" i5 intelligent system, i5 intelligent machine tools can be online in real time, providing accurate data basis for the above management process and becoming the foundation of new manufacturing operations.
Data generation and application of i5 Intelligent Machine tools
Intelligent Machine Tool Internet Application Framework based on iSESOL
iSESOL(i-Smart Engineering & Services Online is a cloud manufacturing platform developed by Shenyang Machine Tool Co., LTD., such as the cloud capacity sharing platform. Users can publish idle capacity to iSESOL production capacity platform, and users with production demand can quickly obtain manufacturing capacity without purchasing equipment. The demand side of production capacity can obtain manufacturing capacity at a lower cost, and both sides can maximize the benefits through sharing. Undoubtedly, this model will become an important form of manufacturing Internet +.
The above picture is the Internet application framework of intelligent machine tools based on iSESOL platform. All i5 smart devices access the iSESOL network through the iPort protocol. Non-i5 devices (such as OPC UA terminals or MTConnect terminals) can access the iSESOL network through the iPort gateway. Cloud-based APP applications such as ERP, MES, and remote Kanban realize unified access to remote devices through real-time data and access interfaces aggregated by iSESOL. iSESOL provides data dictionaries for different devices to map and unify the access methods of different devices. Cloud apps can subscribe to various events and data information only through standard services or parameter naming to achieve unified device access. End users can install apps on different terminals to realize various Internet applications on the device. The production capacity collaboration ecosystem established under this platform has been connected to thousands of machine tools, and about 2,500 machines are currently connected online every day.
Machine tool CNC system intelligence and networking is the general trend, based on the concept of CPS to guide the development of intelligent CNC system, through the network, platform from the perspective of the whole system to achieve the intelligent CNC machine tool.
The development of intelligence is a gradual process, and there are different understandings of intelligence at present, and there is no universally applicable solution. The innovation of CNC machine tool business model and the real landing operation must depend on the intelligence and networking of CNC system. In the future, the CNC system will more and more penetrate the influence of the Internet into the manufacturing process, through the accumulation, transmission and mining of data, more and more intelligent manufacturing capabilities will be born, and transparency and sharing will bring earth-shaking changes to the manufacturing industry.