NUM Adds Form Compensation Option to Numroto, Eliminating Need for Third-Party Software

A new form compensation option for NUM’s Numroto tool grinding software enables tool manufacturers to close the loop between CNC tool grinding and measurement in order to increase process accuracy and consistency. The system inherently compensates for process variables such as temperature fluctuations and grinding wheel wear.

Operators seeking to maximize the accuracy of tools produced on CNC grinding machines generally use a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) to obtain probed measurements of the machined part, using this information to influence the production process during subsequent machining operations, the company says. Until now, Numroto users processed the results from the CMM with third-party compensation software running on an external computer before feeding a corrected target profile back into the CNC machine.

Developed in conjunction with several key end users, Numroto’s form compensation capability forms a fully integrated part of the company’s form cutter package and eliminates the need for third-party software, NUM says. The data exchange between the CMM and the CNC machine can be handled by XML interface or by export/import of the DXF file via a local area network.

The form compensation software employs advanced filtering algorithms to create a smooth and precise compensation profile. The software always calculates the orientation of the grinding wheel and the path speed from the original profile so that only the position of the contact point on the cutting edge is compensated, not the orientation of the grinding wheel. This ensures that the surface quality of the tool is unaffected by the compensation, according to NUM.

The form compensation option is compatible with Numroto version 4.1.2 or later.