April 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 79

Machine Controls

When machinists look at

the latest CNC controls,

they’re often wowed by

the newest whiz-bang

features for high-end,

five-axis machining on

complex aerospace parts or the CNCs typically

found on highly complex multitasking machines.

But focusing solely on those machine control

systems can lead one to overlook the fact that the

vast majority of daily machining tasks are per-

formed on much more standard machines and

CNCs typically found in job-shop environments.

Heidenhain CNCs offer Active Chatter Control

and new Trochoidal milling cycles that help

improve machining speed and part finishes.

Machine Controls Take Aim at the Job Shop

New CNCs, robot controls, and software enhancements help boost shop-floor productivity in job shops and high-end machining

Patrick WaurzyniakSenior Editor

Photo courtesy Heidenhain Corp.

Affordable new CNCs that target everyday machining for

job shops and basic machine tools include the 808D Ad-

vanced CNC from Siemens Industry Inc. (Elk Grove Village,

IL), announced in late February. The new Siemens 808D

Advanced CNC for basic turning and milling machines adds

to the company’s entry-level 808D line initially introduced at

IMTS 2012, signaling the CNC builder’s commitment to the

production-level end of the machining market.

Boom Times for Low-Cost CNCs

Another newer entry-level control is the Acu-Rite Millpwr

G2 CNC from Heidenhain Corp. (Schaumburg, IL) that pri-

marily targets new machines and retrofits of Bridgeport-style

manual knee mills. “The concept is to create a CNC that is

not scary, which is in line with our take on shop-floor program-

ming,” said Chris Weber, national sales manager, Heidenhain

Corp., of the company’s new G2 control. “We supply the

drives, motors, ballscrews—everything you need. It’s a retrofit

essentially for manual machines, an Everyman’s knee mill.”

The Heidenhain control, announced last October, offers

three-axis milling with highly intuitive programming that prompts

users with 3D graphics help steps to help maximize efficiency

and production. The control is equipped with standard features

including USB, networking accessibility, solid-model graphics

and a 12.1" high-resolution display. The G2 features a 1-GHz

processor and 2.5 GB of memory. Other enhancements include

expanded tool and datum offsets for the more complicated jobs.

Users can disengage the quill, or Z axis, for 2.5-axis opera-

tion, noted Weber. “You’d be amazed at some of the shops

we get into with this control, and you can use the machine

completely manually, too,” he added. “Guys love it for part

prototyping, and also in maintenance shops. The key is that

it’s still a knee mill. The versatility of it allows you to do things

that you can’t do with a machining center.”

Most job-shop environments are very cost-sensitive,

noted Randy Pearson, dealer support manager, Machine

Tool Systems, Siemens Industry Inc. The new Siemens 808D

Advanced is designed for basic milling and turning machines.

Affordably priced for machine tool builders, this CNC also

offers a suite of features designed to improve machining accu-

racy, surface finish, safety and communication.

“The concept is to create a CNC that is not scary, which is in line with our take on shop-floor programming.”

The control uses the same easy-to-use Sinumerik Oper-

ate interface offered on the existing Siemens 808D, 828D

and 840D CNCs. “We’re using the same interface across the

board, so it’s easier for users to switch between our controls

and go from machine to machine,” Pearson noted. The

control offers up to five axes/spindle motion control on a single

machine channel, with drive bus communication between the

CNC and drive for better position control. The 808D Advanced

T is suitable for basic turning machines or turning centers

without a Y axis, with the option of driven tools, while the

Sinumerik 808D Advanced M offers advanced surface finish

and the Sinamics V70 drive platform from Siemens, with an

attractive price-to-performance ratio.

Scott Strache, senior product marketing engineer, Mit-

subishi Electric Automation Inc. (Vernon Hills, IL), said there’s

currently high demand for both the low end and the upper

echelon of the CNC market. Mitsubishi Electric Automation sells

a wide breadth of factory automation gear, and its CNCs range

from the entry-level M70V control to the M700V CNC, serv-

ing the market for low-end machine tools to high-end five-axis

machines, mill-turns, and Swiss-style machines, Strache said.

“What we’re seeing is that customers are looking for that

bipolarization, a combination of the high end and the low-cost

job shop controls,” said Strache. “There’s a lot of demand

right now for the lower-cost machine, especially in the China

market where that trend is really strong. With the low end, it

all depends on not only the control platform, but also the drive

series that they’re using, the size of the servo motors and the

spindle motors.”

80 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | April 2014

Machine Controls

Siemens new affordable Sinumerik 808D Advanced CNC

targets job shops and basic machining for turning and

milling applications.

Imag

e co

urte

sy S

iem

ens

Indu

stry

Inc.

Some of Mitsubishi’s new hardware uses silicon carbide

(SiC) technology in the power module for the drives, Strache

said, which allows for high-speed switching. This allows the

machine to run at higher rpm, he added, and improve ma-

chining productivity.

New CNC Programming Tools

Machine controls now offer users more refinement than

in the past, noted Heidenhain’s Weber. “There are faster

controls and great part finish,” Weber said, “that let you make

parts faster, and make it better.” Some key new CNC routines,

embedded programs, include Heidenhain’s Active Chatter

Control and its recently introduced Trochoidal Milling cycle.

“What Trochoidal milling lets you do is do a circular move,

milling a slot which is greater than the tool diameter in one

pass, and it gives you more even wear on the tool, while speed-

ing it up as much as 40%,” Weber said. “It’s even better when

you combine that with adaptive feed control.” These control

functions are aimed at automotive, aerospace, and medical ap-

plications, Weber added, for improved speed and part finishes.

82 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | April 2014

Machine Controls

The 8055 CNC from Fagor Automation Corp. is shown

performing a pocket cycle. Fagor CNCs feature an

easy-to-use interface with conversational or traditional

G-code programming.

Imag

e co

urte

sy F

agor

Aut

omat

ion

Cor

p.

CNC operators want more control and flexibility, noted

Todd Drane, marketing manager, Fagor Automation Corp. (Elk

Grove Village, IL). “Control is the best word I can use—control

meaning the operator or programmer has complete control of

any situation from the CNC keyboard

during the execution process,” Drane

said. “Operators are not just interested

in starting and stopping a program for

the various reasons, but they want the

control to move forwards and back-

wards within the part program block

by block, or to just jump anywhere and

then resume the program execution.”

“The process of drive tun-ing can really help identify

a problem quickly and allow for corrective action.”

In addition, operators want the capa-

bility of background editing, access to

modify the offsets, and automatically re-

position the axes after a tool inspection

during the program execution, he said.

“These needs expand into shop-floor

programming as well with the ability to

quickly and easily create simple and

complex profiles at the keyboard and

automatically insert wherever they de-

sire into the part program,” Drane said.

“We have customers executing a part-

program and then editing in the back-

ground a profile the part program will be

executing later within the program.”

High accuracy without sacrificing

speed is another key demand by CNC

operators, Drane said. “The develop-

ment of nanometric resolution linear

encoders by Fagor has allowed us to

offer customers exceptionally high pro-

grammable resolutions and accuracy,”

he said. “In most cases, this added

resolution assists in improved servomo-

tor performance as well.”

Within the past year, Fagor introduced its HSSA (High

Speed Surface Accuracy) feature, Drane said, an evolu-

tion of the high-speed cutting capabilities of Fagor’s CNC

products. “The 8065 CNC will monitor the execution of the

ICON Technologies • 11600 Adie Road • St. Louis, MO 63043 • p 314.432.4644 • f 314.692.5166 • icon.hydromat.com

The Ultimate in Productivity and Flexibility

Versatile System For Increased Production

Engineered For Maximum Output In A Small Footprint

Rapid Tool Changes At All Stations

icon.hydromat.com

Introducing the

Mill/Turn Center

ME-ICON 6-150 April-Is half.indd 1 3/12/2014 2:47:08 PMApril 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 83

program in real time, while analyzing the micro segments

of the programmed toolpath in order to achieve smooth and

uniformed machine performance of both linear and rotary

axes,” Drane said.

“The HSSA system will anticipate conflicting areas of the

executing program and automatically smooth the transitions,

while always following the machining toolpath,” he said. “At

the same time, algorithms are developed for smoothing the

profile while cross confirmation is done

with the axes in respect to jerk control

and the multiple acceleration/decelera-

tion curves when the movement of a

rotary axes requires a better response

than the linear axes.”

Another recently developed Fagor

feature is its Adaptive Real-time Feed

and Speed control (ARFS), Drane said,

in which the CNC analyzes the machin-

ing conditions such as spindle load,

servo power, and tool-tip temperature,

and automatically adapts both the axis

feed rate and the spindle speed for

maximum machining performance.

“We initially saw a need for this feature

in production environments simply

because it allowed us to knock precious

seconds off cycle times, while also in-

creasing valuable tool life,” Drane said.

“However, our customers are quickly

finding additional benefits. The ARFS

feature is easier on the machine axes

of motion, particularly the spindle. One

customer with a heavy-duty applica-

tion is getting longer spindle bearing

life since utilizing ARFS technology,

and customers are learning from the

QC department that part tolerances are

coming in tighter.”

Better Metalcutting

with Optimized Machines

In order to get the most performance

out of machines and CNCs, machine

shops need to spend time getting

machine tools properly optimized,

something many operators fail to do. An

optimized machine cuts metal much

faster and more accurately, but this

usually requires getting help from quali-

Equipment and systems engineered for robust, reliable metal processing.

PRAB engineers understand the goals and objectives of metal processing manufacturers because many of our operations are just like yours. Maximizing the value of scrap through efficient chip processing helps support growth by adding to your competitive advantage. Processing scrap metal and filtering and recycling coolant is the foundation of our knowledge and experience. This is why you can rely on PRAB to be your partner for engineering a chip processing system that guarantees the same dependability and support you deliver to your customers.

Learn more at sales@prab.com or 1-800-968-7722.www.prab.com

PB016-CHIP_PROC_SYSTEMS-ME-NOV2013.indd 1 10/8/2013 4:19:59 PM84 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | April 2014

Machine Controls

fied factory-trained personnel either at the machine builder or

CNC developer.

“We help end users to optimize their solutions,” said Karl

Kleppek, director of sales and marketing, CNCs, at the Hoff-

man Estates, IL-based CNC business unit of FANUC America

Corp. (Rochester Hills, MI). “When you buy a machine tool,

you need to understand what you bought and be able to put

that into operation.”

A majority of machines typically are optimized to a stan-

dard, all-purpose level, Kleppek said, so they may not offer

optimum performance for more specific machining applica-

tions. Optimizing machine accuracy can require using CNC

compensation features including for backlash and backlash

acceleration; pitch error; straightness compensation; tempera-

ture growth; and 3D error (volumetric) compensation. “We’ve

been able to increase speed to improve productivity through

process optimization,” Kleppek said. “Our 3DServoGuide

allows us to tune the machine by comparing the actual pro-

grammed path and realized programmed path using the servo

data at the tooltip.

“Is there an issue with the mechanics of the machine? Is

it an issue with the programming? The process of drive tuning

can really help identify a problem quickly and allow for correc-

tion action,” Kleppek said.

More CNC Robot Control

At AeroDef Manufacturing in February, Siemens dem-

onstrated some new developments to CNC control of robots

through the company’s mxAutomation solution from its part-

nership with Kuka Robotics. The added functionality will now

allow robotic functions to be controlled on a second channel

of the Sinumerik CNC and transferred to the robot via the

Siemens PLC.

The new capability comes from a function called Run

MyRobot, said Siemens’ Pearson. “Traditionally, you had to

program the machines and then you teach the robot what it is

going to be doing,” Pearson said. “With this new feature, it will

allow an 840D-equipped machine, which is a multichannel

machine, to use one of the channels to program and run the

robot. Channel one runs the machine. And in a second chan-

nel you can have a toolchanger, automation or, in this case,

a robot. It runs on the same hardware, so it’s one NC control,

one HMI, and it has the ability to run the program at the same

time, and talk to each other.”

With Run MyRobot, operators can program the CNC to

control the robot for tasks such as robotic deburring, polishing

or other machining operations. “They can use our hand-held

unit to teach it, and it’s programmed in G-code at that time,”

Pearson said, “so even an operator who has the basic under-

86 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | April 2014

Machine Controls

Fagor Automation Corp.Ph: 800-423-2467

E-mail: fagorusa@fagor-automation.comWeb site: www.fagorus.com

FANUC America Corp.Ph: 888-326-8287

Web site: www.fanucamerica.com

Heidenhain Corp.Ph: 847-490-1191

E-mail: info@heidenhain.comWeb site: www.heidenhain.com

Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. Ph: 847-478-2100

E-mail: info@meau.com Web site: www.meau.com

Siemens Industry Inc.Ph: 800-879-8079

E-mail: SiemensMTBUMarCom.industry@siemens.comWeb site: www.usa.siemens.com/cnc

Want More Information?The M700 CNC from Mitsubishi Electric Automation offers

silicon carbide (SiC) technology in the drive power mod-

ule, allowing for high-speed switching, higher rpms, and

improved machining productivity.

Imag

e co

urte

sy M

itsub

ishi

Ele

ctric

Aut

omat

ion

Inc.

standing of programming parts can look at that and actually

modify speeds or feeds of the robot at the same time.”

Last October, FANUC unveiled a CNC and robot integrated

automotive architecture at the Rockwell Automation Fair,

demonstrating connectivity to Rockwell

Automation (Milwaukee) programmable

automation controller (PAC) environ-

ments for easy-to-use, simplified auto-

mation solutions.

“They can use our handheld unit to teach it, and it’s

programmed in G-code.”

The FANUC-Rockwell partnership,

which has been in place for about three

years, focuses on cell control, safety and

enterprise software, particularly for au-

tomotive powertrain applications, noted

Kleppek. FANUC offers a pre-engineered

integration automation solution for au-

tomotive powertrain applications, using

an integrated safety network, a scalable

machining cell control architecture com-

prised of multiple FANUC CNCs, robots,

and Rockwell devices. Connections for

FANUC CNCs and robots are included

in Rockwell’s RSLogix 5000 software

to quickly configure control and com-

munication systems, and Ethernet/IP is

the only network needed for connection

of the cell controller to CNCs, robots or

other devices.

“We’ve since received a round of

very large orders, in the ballpark of

700–800 machines,” Kleppek said of

an automotive foundry application for

high-speed heavy hogging. “Working

with Rockwell, it’s probably the most

open solution,” Kleppek added. “The in-

terface to a Rockwell PLC lets the CNC

be a slave to a Rockwell PLC, or it can

function as a master to other devices on

the network.

“The interface is seamless, but there’s still the robot con-

troller,” Kleppek said of the company’s CNC-Robot interface,

“and it allows you to do parts set up and jog the robot from

the CNC.” ME

productivitymaximum

from prototype to mass production

sprint to the finish line with our customized solutions

The innovative drive concept of the Schutte 325linear combines highest precision with maximum dynamics.

Whether you produce instruments or implants, the 325linear brings exceptional productivity on the smallest footprint in the business.

Benefit of our long experience in grinding with a refined grinding process.

With our flexible control concept SIGSpro, quick reactions to market changes are as easy as reproducible mass production.

517.782.3600 • schutteusa.com • info@schutteusa.com

April 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 87