Embedded-based network numerical control technology and system

Abstract

It is indicated that the general-purposed PC-based numerical control (NC) technology suffers from a number of problems, such as mismatch between system resources and application needs, unsuitability of the operating system to real-time control, lack of self-owned intellectual properties (IP) etc. Further embedded technology is one of the future develop- ment directions of network numerical control. The hardware and software architectures for the embedded-based network numerical control as well as the relevant development and simulation environments are proposed. The hardware structure of the system consists of input and display device, NC unit, PLCs, servo modules, high-speed fieldbuses, and Ethernet etc, all of which are embedded-based. The software system is com- posed of embedded operating system, control and computation components, various other composable modules, design assis- tance system, simulation system etc. The embedded-based NC system can realize all the functions that a general-purposed, PC-based NC system can provide. The development assistance process and auto-generation process for the embedded-based network numerical control software are presented, as well as those for embedded-based PLCs software. A hardware imple- mentation scheme for the embedded-based network numerical control is proposed, and the software architectures of ARM and DSP modules of the central NC unit are introduced. The mostly distinguishing feature of the embedded network numerical con- trol system is that the central numerical control unit is not a general-purposed PC system, but an embedded system instead. The system not only has high computation capacity, flexible structure and low cost, but also is general, combinable, scalable and open.