A Feedrate Planning Method for the NURBS Curve in CNC Machining Based on the Critical Constraint Curve

The curvature of the NURBS curve varies along its trajectory, therefore, the commonly used feedrate-planning method, which based on the acceleration/deceleration (Acc/Dec) model, is difficult to be directly applied in CNC machining of a NURBS curve. To address this problem, a feedrate-planning method based on the critical constraint curve of the feedrate (CCC) is proposed. Firstly, the problems of existing feedrate-planning methods and their causes are analyzed. Secondly, by considering both the curvature constraint and the kinematic constraint during the Acc/Dec process, the concept of CCC which represents the relationship between the critical feedrate-constraint value and the arc length is proposed. Then the CCC of a NURBS curve is constructed, and it has a concise expression conforming to the Acc/Dec model. Finally, a feedrate-planning method of a NURBS curve based on CCC and the Acc/Dec model is established. In the simulation, a comparison between the proposed method and the conventional feedrate-planning method is performed, and the results show that, the proposed method can reduce the Acc/Dec time by over 40%, while little computational burden being added. The machining experimental results validate the real-time performance and stability of the proposed method, and also the machining quality is verified. The proposed method offers an effective feedrate-planning strategy for a NURBS curve in CNC machining.

Sliding look-ahead window-based real-time feedrate planning for non-uniform rational B-splines curves

This article presents an online three-axis non-uniform rational B-splines preprocessing and feedrate scheduling method with chord error, axial velocity, acceleration, and jerk limitations. A preprocessing method is proposed to accurately locate the critical points by reducing pre-interpolation feedrate in feedrate limit violation regions. In the preprocessing stage, the non-uniform rational B-splines curve is subdivided into segments by the critical points and the corresponding feedrate constraints are obtained. A sliding look-ahead window-based feedrate scheduling method is proposed to generate smooth feedrate profile for the buffered non-uniform rational B-splines segments. The feedrate profile corresponding to each non-uniform rational B-splines block is constructed according to the block length and the given limits of acceleration and jerk. The feedrate modification method for non-schedulable short blocks is also described which aimed at avoiding feedrate discontinuity at the junction of two non-uniform rational B-splines blocks. With the proposed method, a successful feedrate profile could be generated with sufficient look-ahead trajectory length in the buffer, which enables that the preprocessing and feedrate planning to be performed progressively online. Simulation and experimental tests with different non-uniform rational B-splines curves are carried out to validate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method is capable of making a balance between the machining efficiency, machining precision, and computational complexity.