UNIFIED CAM-SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR DIE AND MOLD MANUFACTURING

The paper proposes an architecture for a unified computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software system for die and mould machining. Under the proposed architecture, all the major functions of various types of CAM system are handled in a unified fashion: (a) the verification and correction of NC codes, (b) the generation of gouge-free NC codes from CAD-file and coordinate-measuring machine data, (c) the accommodation of feedback and feedforward information, (d) the automatic generation of NC codes (i.e. generative NC), and (e) the support of concurrent-engineering and intelligent-manufacturing frameworks. The concept of a 'soft' master model is a key to the unified architecture. An approach to the implementation of such a unified CAM system is also presented.