UC Davis

Experimental results from the implementation of an inverse dynamics compensation scheme on a three-axis CNC mill with an open-architecture software controller are presented. The scheme amounts to imposing a continuously variable displacement on the commanded toolpath, which compensates for the physical limitations (inertia and damping) of each machine axis, producing accurate execution of the prescribed toolpath. Numerical values for the dimensionless parameters that characterize the second-order inverse dynamics model are determined by feeding input and output data from machine runs into a system identification software tool. For a basic P-type controller, exact a priori solutions for the modified path geometry are possible, allowing implementation by simple alterations to the real-time interpolator. The experimental results based on a P-type controller indicate that the inverse dynamics scheme is highly effective in suppressing both feed (lag/lead) error and contour error (deviation from the desired path), even at high feedrates along strongly curved toolpaths. The scheme thus provides a practical means of achieving smooth and accurate execution of free-form paths, without appealing to more complicated "active" control strategies. © Springer-Verlag London 2014.