ABSTRACT
After reading this chapter you should understand: (a) what CNC is and how it differs from NC (b) the three constituent parts of any CNC system (c) how part programs are constructed and then adapted to run on a specific machine tool (d) the convention by which CNC machine tool axes are defined (e) the difference between absolute and incremental programming (f) why canned cycles and G and M codes are used (g) the many tasks and features of a modern machine control unit (h) the four modes of machine tool axis control (i) the difference between tooling offset and compensation (j) the fundamental design differences between conventional and CNC machine tools (k) why touch trigger probing should be used on CNC machine tools. (l) the benefits of adaptive control
(m) the difference between a flexible manufacturing cell and system.
