Computer Numerical

Control
Lecture 6
Engineering Analysis of NC
Positioning Systems

Dr Ibrahim Al-Adwan
Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems

The NC positioning system converts the coordinate axis values in the NC

part program into relative positions of the tool and workpart during
processing.
Consider the simple positioning system shown in the following figure.

Motor and leadscrew arrangement in an NC positioning system.

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The system consists of a cutting tool and a
worktable on which a workpart is fixtured. The
table is designed to move the part relative to the
tool. The worktable moves linearly by means of a
rotating leadscrew, which is driven by a stepping
motor or servomotor. The leadscrew has a certain
pitch p (in/thread, mm/thread). Thus, the table
moves a distance equal to the pitch for each
revolution. The velocity of the worktable, which
corresponds to the feed rate in a machining
operation, is determined by the rotational speed of
the leadscrew.

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Types of NC Positioning Systems

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Open-Loop Positioning Systems
An open-loop positioning system typically uses a stepping motor to
rotate the leadscrew. A stepping motor is driven by a series of
electrical pulses, which are generated by the MCU in an NC system.
Each pulse causes the motor to rotate a fraction of one revolution,
called the step angle. The possible step angles must be consistent
with the following relationship:
360

ns
 ns 
where step angle (degree/pulse), and the number of
step angles for the motor (pulses), which must be an integer.
The angle through which the motor shaft rotates is given by
Am n p

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Open-Loop Positioning Systems

whereA  angle of motor shaft rotation (degrees),

m
n  p number of
pulses received
 by the motor, and step angle (degrees/pulse). The
motor shaft is generally connected to the leadscrew through a gear
box, which reduces the angular rotation of the leadscrew. The angle
of the leadscrew rotation must take the gear ratio into account as
follows:
n 
p
A
rg
A rg

where angle of leadscrew rotation (degrees), and =gear

ratio, defined as the number of turns of the motor for each single
turn of the leadscrew. That is,
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Open-Loop Positioning Systems

Am N m
rg  
A N
N  and
WhereN m  rotational speed of the motor (rev/min),
rotational speed of the leadscrew (rev/min).

The linear movement of the worktable is given by the number of full

and partial rotations of the leadscrew multiplied by its pitch:

pA
x
360

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Open-Loop Positioning Systems
where x  x  axis position relative to the starting position
 inch),
p(mm, . A / 360  of the
pitch
leadscrew (mm/rev, in/rev), and number of leadscrew
revolutions. The number of pulses required to achieve a specified
position increment in a point-to-point system can be found by
360 xrg asn sfollows:
combining the two preceding equations xrg
np  or
p p
ns
where
360the
/  second expression on the right-hand side is obtained
by substituting for .
Control pulses are transmitted from the pulse generator at a
certain frequency, which drives the worktable at a corresponding
velocity or feed rate in the direction of the leadscrew axis. The
rotational speed of the leadscrew depends on the frequency of
the pulse train as follows:
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Open-Loop Positioning Systems
Control pulses are transmitted from the pulse generator at a certain
frequency, which drives the worktable at a corresponding velocity or
feed rate in the direction of the leadscrew axis. The rotational speed
of the leadscrew depends on the frequency of the pulse train as
follows:
60 f p
N
n s rg
N fp 

where leadscrew
n
s rotational speed (rev/min), pulse train
frequency (Hz, pulses/sec), and = steps per revolution or pulses
per revolution.
The table travel speed in the direction of leadscrew axis is
determined by the rotational speed as follows:

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Open-Loop Positioning Systems

vt  f r  Np
where vt  table travel speed (mm/min, fin/min),
r  table feed
N  in/min),
rate (mm/min, p  speed (rev/min),
leadscrew rotational
and leadscrew pitch (mm/rev, in/rev).

The required pulse train frequency to drive the table at a specified

linear travel rate can be obtained by combining the last two fp
equations and rearranging to solve for :
vt n s rg f r n s rg
fp  or
60 p 60 p

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Example NC Open-Loop Positioning
The worktable of a positioning system is driven by a leadscrew
whose pitch = 6.0mm. The leadscrew is connected to the output
shaft of a stepping motor through a gearbox whose ration is 5:1 (5
turns of the motor to one turn of the leadscrew). The stepping motor
has 48 step angles. The table must move a distance of 250mm from
its present position at a linear velocity=500 mm/min. Determine (a)
how many pulses are required to move the table the specified
distance and (b) the required motor speed and pulse rate to achieve
the desired table velocity.

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Example NC Open-Loop Positioning
Solution:
250mm,
The leadscrew rotation angle corresponding to ax distance

360 x 360(250)
A  15,000 o
p 6.0
With 50 step angles, each step angle is:
360
 7 . 5 o
48

Thus, the number of pulses to move the table 250mm is

360 xrg Arg15000(5)
np    10,000
p  7.5
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Example NC Open-Loop Positioning
Solution:
(b) The rotational speed of the leadscrew corresponding to a
table speed of 500 mm/min can be determined as:

vt 500
N  83.333 rev/min
The motor speed: p 6
N m rg N 5( 83.333 ) 416.667 rev/min

The applied pulse rate to drive the table is given by:

vt ns rg 500( 48 )( 5 )
fp   333.333 Hz
60 p 60( 6 )

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Closed-Loop Positioning Systems
A closed-loop NC system uses servomotors and feedback
measurements to ensure that the worktable is moved to the desired
position. A common feedback sensor used for NC is the optical
encoder, shown in the following figure.

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In the basic optical encoder, the angle between slots in the disk
must satisfy the following requirement:
360

ns
Where  angle between slots (degrees/slot), ns and the
number of slots in the disk (slots/rev). For a certain angular rotation
of the encoder shaft, the number of pulses sensed by the encoder is
given by: A e
np 

np  Ae 
Where pulse countemitted
 by the encoder, angle of
rotation of the encoder shaft (degrees), and angle between
slots, which converts to degrees per pulse.
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Closed-Loop Positioning Systems
The pulse count can be used to determine the linear x-axis position
of the worktable by factoring in the leadscrew pitch and the gear
reduction between the encoder shaft and the leadscrew. Thus:
pn p
x
n s rge
Where n p andn s p
are defined above, leadscrew pitch
rge  in/rev), and
(mm/rev, . gear reduction between the encoder
and the leadscrew, defined as the number of turns of the encoder
shaft for each single turn of the leadscrew.
That is, Ae N e
rge  
A N

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Closed-Loop Positioning Systems
where Ae  A
encoder shaft angle (degrees), leadscrew angle
Ne 
N  (rev/min), and
(degrees), rotational speed of encoder shaft
rotational speed of leadscrew (rev/min).
The velocity of the worktable, which is normally the feed rate in
machining operation, is obtained from the frequency of the pulse
train as follows: 60 pf p
vt  f r 
n s rge

vt  fr 
where f p  worktable velocity (mm/min, in/min), feed rate
(mm/min, in/min), frequency of the pulse train emitted by
the optical encoder (Hz, pulse/sec), and the constant 60 converts
worktable velocity and feed rate from mm/sec (in/sec) to mm/min
(in/min).

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Example NC Closed-Loop Positioning
An NC worktable operates by closed-loop positioning
system consists of a servomotor, leadscrew, and o
encoder. The leadscrew has a pitch=6.0mm and is cou
to the motor shaft with a gear ratio of 5:1 (5 turns o
drive motor for each turn of the leadscrew). The o
encoder generates 48 pulses/rev of its output shaft
encoder output shaft is coupled to the leadscrew with
reduction (4 turns of the encoder shaft for each turn o
leadscrew). The table has been programmed to m
distance of 250mm at a feed rate =500 mm/min. Deter
(a) how many pulses should be received by the co
system to verify that the table has moved exactly 250
(b) the pulse rate of the encoder, and (c) the drive
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m
Example NC Closed-Loop Positioning
Solution:
xn s rge 250(48)( 4)
np   8000 pulses
(a) p 6.0

(b) The pulse rate corresponding to 500 mm/min:

fr n s rge 500(48)( 4)
fp   2666.667 Hz
60 p 60(6.0)

(c) Motor speed = table velocity (feed rate) divided by leadscrew

pitch, corrected for gear ratio:
rg f r 5(500)
Nm   416.667 rev/min
p 6.0

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Precision in NC Positioning
For accurate machining or other processing performed by an
NC system, the positioning system must possess a high
degree of precision. Three measures of precision can be
defined for an NC positioning system: (1) control resolution,
(2) accuracy, and (3) repeatability.
These terms are most readily explained by considering a
single axis of the positioning system, as shown in the
following figure.

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems

A portion of a linear positioning system axis, with definition of control

resolution, accuracy, and repeatability.

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
A number of electromechanical factors affect control
resolution, including leadscrew pitch, gear ratio in the drive
system, and the step angle in a stepping motor for an open-
loop system or the angle between slots in an encoder disk
for a closed-loop system. For an open-loop positioning
system driven by a stepper motor, these factors can be
combined into an expression that defines the control
resolution as follows:
p
CR 
1
n s rg
CR1 
p
where rg control
 resolution of the electromechanical
ns 
components (mm, in), leadscrew pitch (mm/rev,
in/rev), number of steps per revolution, and gear
ratio between the motor shaft and the leadscrew.

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
A similar expression can be developed for a closed-loop
positioning system, except that the gear reduction between
the leadscrew and the encoder shaft must be included:
p
CR1 
n s rg rge
The second factor that limits control resolution is the
number of bits used by the MCU to specify the axis
coordinate value. For example, this limitation may be
imposed by the bit storage capacity of the controller. If B=
the number of bits in the storage register for the axis, then
the number of control points into which the axis range can
be divided = 2B. Assuming that the control points are
separated equally within the range, then

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems

L
CR 2  B
2 1
whereCR2  control resolution of the computer control
L (mm, in), and
system axis range (mm, in). The control
resolution of the positioning system is the maximum of the
two values; that is,
CR  MaxCR1 ,CR2 
CR 2 CR1
A desirable criterion is for , meaning that the
electromechanical system is the limiting factor that
determines control resolution. The bit storage capacity of a
modern computer controller is sufficient to satisfy this
criterion except in unusual situations. Resolutions of 0.0025
mm (0.0001 in) are within the current state of NC
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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
The capability of a positioning system to move the
worktable to the exact location defined by a given
addressable point is limited by mechanical errors that are
due to various imperfections in the mechanical system.
These imperfections include play between the leadscrew
and the worktable, backlash in the gears, and deflection of
machine components.
We assume that the mechanical errors form an unbiased
normal statistical distribution about the control point whose
mean . We further assume that the standard  deviation of
the distribution is constant over the range of the axis under
consideration. Given these assumptions, then nearly all of
the mechanical errors (99.74%) are contained within of
the control point, as shown in the previous figure for a
portion of the axis range that includes two control points.

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
The accuracy of any given axis of a positioning system is
the maximum possible error that can occur between the
desired target point and the actual position taken by the
system; in equation form,
CR
Accuracy   3
2
CR  
Where control resolution (mm, in), and
standard deviation of the error distribution. 0Accuracies
.0004 in
machine 0.01 are generally expressed for a certain range
tools
of table travel, for example, . mm for 250
mm ( in for 10 in) of table travel.

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
Repeatability refers to the capability of the positioning
system to return to a given addressable point that has been
previously programmed. This capability can be measured in
terms of the location errors encountered when the system
attempts to position itself at the addressable point. Location
errors are a manifestation of the mechanical errors of the
positioning system, which follow a normal distribution, as
assumed previously. Thus, the repeatability of any given
axis of a positioning system is standard deviations of the
mechanical error distribution associated with the axis. This
can be written: Repeatability 3
0.0025
0.0001
The repeatability of a modern NC machine tool is around
mm ( in).
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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
Example Control Resolution, Accuracy, and
Repeatability in NC
Suppose the mechanical inaccuracies in the open-loop
 system discussed above are described by a
positioning
normal distribution with standard deviation 0.005 mm.
The range of the worktable axis is 1000 mm,pand  there are
16 bits in the binary register used by the digital controller to
rg 
store the programmed position.n s  Other parameters are:
pitch 6.0mm,
gear ratio between motor shaft and leadscrew 5.0, and
number of step angles in the stepping motor 48.
Determine (a) the control resolution, (b) the accuracy, and
(c) the repeatability for the positioning system.

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 Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
Solution:
(a) Control resolution is the greater of CR1 and CR2:

p 6 .0
CR1   0.025mm
n s rg 48(5.0)

1000 1000
CR2  16  0.01526mm
2  1 65,535
CR Max0.025,0.01526 0.025mm

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Engineering Analysis of NC Positioning
Systems
Solution:
(b) Accuracy

Accuracy 0.5(0.025)  3(0.005) 0.0275mm

(c) Repeatability

Repeatabil ity 3( 0.005 ) 0.015 mm

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