5/19/2015

WhatisPostProcessing

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WhatisPostProcessing?
Intheearlydaysofpostprocessing,apostprocessorwasconsideredaninterfacetoolbetweencomputeraided
manufacturing(CAM)systemsandnumericallycontrolled(NC)machinesameretranslator,readingthemanufacturing
instructionsissuedfromaCAMsystemandwritinganappropriaterenditionforatargetNCmachine.Todayhowever,post
processinghasevolvedtoincludeadynamicrangeofcodeoptimizationtoolswhichareresponsibleforoutputtingthemost
efficientandproductivemachinetoolcodepossible.

UniqueTechnologyOption

CustomNCPostProcessorsforSingleCAMorMultiCAMApplications

DownloadICAMProduct
OverviewBrochureinPDF

CustomNCpostprocessorscreatedbyICAM'sseniorNCmanufacturingexpertsaredevelopedtooptimizetheperformance
ofCNCmachinesandtoallowuserstoexploittheadvancedfunctionsoftheirrespectivemachinetools.

ICAM'scustomNCpostprocessorsarecreatedusingCAMPOSTtherefore,thesepostsinherentlyinterfacewithallmajor
CAD/CAM/PLMsystems,controllersandCNCmachinesandsupportvariousadvancedmultiaxesmachiningapplications.
AllICAMpostprocessorscanalsobeconfiguredtosupportmultipleCAMsystems.

ICAMpostprocessorsareversatileprogramsthatmaybe
customizedtoreflectuniqueshopfloorpracticesand
manufacturingmethodologiesthereby,allowingoperatorsto

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WhatisPostProcessing
standardizetheprogrammingtheirmachines.
ICAM'scustomNCpostprocessorscanalsoemulateHighSpeed
MachiningfunctionswithouttheneedforanHSMcontrol.
Furthermore,NURBSfitting,ArcfittingandLINTOLrotaryturn
aroundarealsosupported.
Theresultisadramaticreductioninmachiningtimeand
improvedpartquality.AllICAMNCpostprocessorsare
guaranteedandbackedby90daysoftechnicalsupportand
maintenance.

Postprocessing&CNCSimulationfor
DSTECOSPEEDMachine
Video(27mb)
Downloadvideoaszipfile>>>

ICAMTechnologiesCorporationhasbeendevelopingNCpostprocessingtechnologyforover40yearsanditsNCpost
processorshavebeenimplementedbymanufacturersinmajorindustriesaroundtheworld.

NCpostprocessingisresponsibleforjoiningtwoverydifferenttechnologies,anditoftenservestocompensatefor
weaknessesoneitherend.Thereinliesthecruxoftheissue:apostprocessorcanenhancetechnology,oritcaninhibitit,
dependinguponitsapplication.
Tounderstandhowapostprocessorcanenhancetechnology,ithelpstounderstandhowandwhypostprocessingevolved,
howithasbeentraditionallyapplied,andhowtheemergenceofadvancedpostprocessingsystemshaschangedthewayit
isusedtoday.Thisarticlewillshowhowpostprocessorscanbeusedaskeycomponentsinfactoryautomation.

WhatisaPostProcessor?
MostCAMsystemsgenerateoneormoretypesofneutrallanguagefilescontaininginstructionsforaCNCmachine.These
areeitherinabinaryformatcalledCLDATAorsomeASCIIreadableformattailoredaftertheAPTlanguage.APTisan
acronymfor"AutomaticallyProgrammedTools,"softwarethatacceptssymbolicgeometryandmanufacturinginstructions,
andgeneratesCLDATAdescribingthemanufacturingoperationinabsoluteterms.SomeCAMsystemsprovidealarge
degreeofflexibility,allowingjustaboutanythingtobeincludedintheneutralfile,othersarequitestrictaboutwhatcanand
cannotbeincluded.
AttheotherendoftheequationsitstheNCmachine.Itrequiresinputcustomizedforthecontrollerbeingusedandarguably
toalesserextent,theoperatorrunningthemachine.Mostimportant,theNCmachinemustbedriveninamannerthat
satisfiesshopfloorcriteria,whichareprimarilybasedonsafety,efficiencyandtradition.
Betweenthesetwoliesthepostprocessor.Thepostprocessorissoftwareresponsiblefortranslatingneutralinstructions
fromtheCAMsystemintothespecificinstructionsrequiredbytheNCmachine(Figure1).Thissoftwarerespondstothe
uniquerequirementsandlimitationsoftheCAMsystem,NCmachineandmanufacturingenvironment.Therefore,post
processingisanimportantpartoffactoryautomation,asisanythingthatliesonthecriticalpathbetweenthedesignengineer
andtheshippingdepartment.

AHistoricalPerspective
Peopleoftenaskifpostprocessorsarereallyneeded,wonderingifperhapsthewholeissuehasbeenperpetratedonthe
unsuspectingbyunscrupuloussoftwarehouses!Infact,therereallyisn'taconspiracy,justalotofpracticality.International
standards(ISO)aswellasnationalstandards(ANSI,EIA)definebothanoutputformatforCAMsystemsandaninputformat
forNCmachines.Thesetwoformats,outputandinput,differsignificantly.
Whynotonestandard,oneformat?Standardsaremoreoftenthannotbasedonexistingpractice.Theyservetodefinea
singlemethodfromahostofpossiblechoices,allofwhicharegenerallyrootedinactualpractice.Standardsthatgoagainst
commonpracticedoappearfromtimetotime,buttheyarehardtojustify,difficulttocreateandslowtobeaccepted.They
alsorequirealotmorededicationandeffortthanmostpeoplearewillingtovolunteer.
SowhentheproliferationofcompetingAPTsystemswarrantedastandardtohelpdefineandcontroltheformatofitsinputs
andoutputs,standardswerecreateddefiningthecoreelementsrequiredformanufacturing.Similarly,theproliferationof
controllersalsodemandedsomeuniformity,andNCcontrollanguagestandardswerecreateddefiningthecorepracticesof
industry.

WhatMightHaveBeen

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Butletussupposeforamomentthatasingleunifyingsolutionhadbeencreatedinareasonabletimeframe,andthata
significantnumberofCAMcompaniesandNCcontrollermanufacturersagreedtodothingsdifferentlyforthecommongood.
Whatthen?
TimepassesandCAMandNCvendorssoonrealizethatasingleunifyingsolutiondoesnotaccountforcompetitiveness.
Thereareatleastthreewaysanewfeature(suchasprobing)canbebroughttomarketinthisenvironment.Oneistorevise
thestandardfirst,thenprovidethisfeaturetocustomersatasuitablepointafterthestandardisnextpublished.Thesecondis
toprovidethefeaturetocustomersfirst,thenpressforstandardizationlater.Thethirdistoignoreanyefforttostandardize
companyproprietaryinformationandgetthefeaturetomarketasquicklyaspossible.
Nocontest.Thefeaturegoestomarketasquicklyaspossible.
Nowthingsgetalittlemorecomplicated.IfthefeatureisanNCone,howwillthecustomer'sCAMsystemaccessit,andvice
versa?Thestandardhastobeextendedonbothsidesoftheinterfacetomakethefeaturework.TheCAMandNCvendors
mustbothagreetoincorporatenonstandardfunctionalitytoallowaccesstothisnewfeature.Whowillprofit?Willbothprofit
equally?
ItwouldbemorelikelythatsomesortofpreprocessorwouldberequiredtochangetheoutputoftheCAMsystemtosatisfy
theinputrequirementsoftheNCmachine.Besides,apreprocessorisprobablyalreadyneededtohandlebinaryformat
conversionsbetweentheCAMsystemcomputerandtheNCcontroller.Initiallytheconversionwillbesimple,butastime
goesonanddeviationsfromthestandardcontinue,theconversionwillbecomemorecomplex,perhapstothepointwhere
differentpreprocessorsmightberequiredfordifferentNCmachines.
Whowillprovidethepreprocessor,especiallyifboththeCAMsystemoutputandtheNCmachineinputcontainextensions
tothestandard?Whathappenswhenarevisedstandardappears,oraCAMvendorleavesthemarket,orthecomputer
manufacturertellsyouthatthecomputeryouareusingisobsoleteandnotobjectcompatiblewiththenewestmodel?

Isthisallstartingtosoundfamiliar?
ItreallymakesnodifferenceiftheinterfacebetweenCAMandNCisunifiedornot.Marketpressureswillultimatelycreate
incompatibilities,andsoftwarewillbenecessarytobridgethegap.Theonlyquestionlefttoansweris,whatsoftware?

EnterPostProcessing
PostprocessorscandomanyotherthingsbesidestranslatingCLDATAtoNCmachinecodes.Forexampleapostprocessor
maysummarizeaxestravels,feedandspeedlimits,jobruntimeandtoolusageinformation,whichenablesbetterselection
andschedulingofresources.
Moresophisticatedpostprocessorsmayvalidatetheprogrambeforeitisrunbythemachinetool.Therearemanysimple
rulesthatapostprocessorcanfollow,withwarningmessagesdisplayedwhentheserulesareviolated.Someexamples:
Notingifatoolisnotselectednearthestartoftheprogram,warningwhenmotionsatfeedratearedonewithastopped
spindle,flagginglongseriesofpositioningmoves,orconversely,flaggingfeedmovesatorabovetheprogramclearance
plane,ornotingifdiameterorlengthcompensationswitchesarenotchangedwhenatoolis.
Beyondsimplevalidationcomescorrection.Therearemanysituationswhereapostprocessorcandetectanerrorand
correctit.Examplesinclude:cyclesleftactiveduringatoolchange(theyshouldbetemporarilycancelled),selectingan
incorrectornonexistentspindlegearrange(thepostprocessorshouldselectarangethatsupportsthespeed),orspecifying
anunavailablecoolanttype(thepostprocessorshouldselectthenextbesttype).
Thebestpostprocessorsmaintainaglobalpictureoftheentirejobatalltimes,usingupcomingeventstohelpmake
decisionsaboutcurrentones.TheNCprogrammerusesthisinformationtooptimizethejobwithoutintervention.For
example:preselectingthenexttoolassoonasphysicallypossible,segmentingatapeatatoolchangeiftheentire
upcomingtoolpathwillnotfitonthecurrentreel,selectingaspindlegearthatbestfitsthecurrentandsubsequentspeed
requirements,orswitchingintelligentlybetweenparallelaxes(ZandW)basedonthetypesofupcomingoperationsand
availabletravellimits.
PostprocessorscanalsoworkaroundlimitationsandbugsintheCAMsystemorinthemachinetool.Itisgenerallyfareasier
tochangethepostprocessorthanitistogetanewrevisionoftheCAMsystem,oranewexecutiverevisionfortheNC
controller.
TheimportantpointtobemadehereisthattheNCprogrammershouldnotbeconcernedaboutmachinetoolormachine
operatoridiosyncrasiesthatdonotdirectlyaffecttheproductionofajob.Whereverpossible,goodpostprocessorsshould
hidethesedetailswithin.
StandardCAMsystems,standardNCmachines,standardCLDATAandstandardpostprocessorvocabularycannotallbe
mixedtogethertoinstantlyproduceaworkingsystem.Therearetoomanyvariablesintherealworld,andstandardsaretoo
restrictedinscope,toachieveintegrationwithofftheshelfcomponents.
Postprocessorstieitalltogether,andgoodpostprocessorscandothiswithaminimumofeffort.
Postprocessingworksbestwhenitis"transparent,"inotherwordsthebestpostprocessorsarethosethattheuserneither
knowsaboutnorcaresabout.Theyquietlygoabouttheirwork,onlyraisinganalarmwhenwarranted.
Backtotop

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WhatisPostProcessing

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