An optimisation approach to the contour error control of CNC machine tools using genetic algorithms

A contour control strategy has been studied in this paper to improve the contour error of CNC machine tools. First, a single axis controller is analysed and then a velocity feedforward controller is added in the velocity loop. To further reduce the contour error, a cross-coupled controller is adopted and an algorithm for an on-line estimation of the contour error in arbitrary curved contouring is proposed. These controller parameters are all optimised by an efficient robust optimisation technique using genetic algorithms. Experimental results are provided to illustrate the proposed methods.