Virtual reality for NC-programming

NC-programming systems for three- to five-axis machining need a large amount of interactivity in order to create tool paths of an appropriate quality. A new user interface using virtual reality technologies is presented in this paper. The main advantage arising from the use of VR-devices is a substantial relief in tool positioning and error correction. A high-precision force feedback produces a realistic feeling of the tools' movement on the workpiece surface (Figure 1). Additional assistance is given to the user by stereoscopic visualization. Apart from increasing comfort and intuition in programming difficult part operations, it will produce NC-code in strongly reduced programming time as well.