High performance milling
Technology for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting tool of a numerical control machine is described. The described technology can receive a main toolpath, the main toolpath comprising one or more cuts; compute one or more transition toolpaths, each transition toolpath defining a transition area intersecting one or more of the cuts of the main toolpath; trim one or more cuts of the main toolpath near two or more points of intersection between the main toolpath and the transition toolpaths; connect the trimmed portions of the main toolpath with one or more connecting moves such that each connecting move is mostly inside one or more of the transition areas; and mill the selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the cuts, transition toolpaths, trimmed cuts, and connecting moves.
1. A method performed by a milling device for milling selected portions of a workpiece using a cutting tool of a numerical control machine, the numerical control machine having associated therewith a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
receiving a main toolpath, the main toolpath comprising two or more cuts;
computing one or more transition toolpaths, each transition toolpath defining a transition area intersecting one or more of the cuts of the main toolpath;
connecting the completion of one cut to the beginning of the next cut with one or more connecting moves such that each connecting move is substantially inside one or more of the transition areas wherein the cutting tool is substantially disengaged from the workpiece during the connecting move within the transition areas; and
milling the selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the cuts, transition toolpaths, and connecting moves, wherein the milling includes removing material from a portion of at least one of the transition areas corresponding to one of the computed transition toolpaths.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a transition toolpath follows one or more segments of a medial axis.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein portions of two or more cuts are derived from a succession of parallel offset curves.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the transition areas is milled using a strategy that feeds the cutting tool into the area with substantially circular motion.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cutting at least one of the transition areas with multiple axial depths of cut.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
offsetting inwards one or more subsets of a boundary to form a first set of offsets;
offsetting outwards the first set of offsets one or more times to form a second set of offsets, and
including portions of the second set of offsets in the main tool path.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the connecting moves occur at a higher feedrate than would be possible if they did not occur substantially inside a transition area.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a component configured to cut at least one of the transition areas with multiple axial depths of cut.
9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a component configured to offset inwards one or more subsets of a boundary to form a first set of offsets;
a component configured to offset outwards the first set of offsets one or more times to form a second set of offsets, and
a component configured to include portions of the second set of offsets in the main tool path.
10. A method for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting tool of a numerical control machine, the numerical control machine having associated therewith a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
receiving a main toolpath, the main toolpath comprising one or more cuts;
computing one or more transition toolpaths, each transition toolpath defining a transition area intersecting one or more of the cuts of the main toolpath;
connecting an interruption of a cut to a continuation of the cut with one or more connecting moves such that each connecting move is substantially inside one or more of the transition areas wherein the cutting tool is substantially disengaged from the workpiece during the connecting move within the transition areas; and
milling the selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the cuts, transition toolpaths, and connecting moves, wherein the milling includes removing material from a portion of at least one of the transition areas corresponding to one of the computed transition toolpaths.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein a transition toolpath follows one or more segments of a medial axis.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein portions of two or more cuts are derived from a succession of parallel offset curves.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the transition areas is milled using a strategy that feeds the cutting tool into the area with substantially circular motion.
14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising cutting at least one of the transition areas with multiple axial depths of cut.
15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
offsetting inwards one or more subsets of a boundary to form a first set of offsets;
offsetting outwards the first set of offsets one or more times to form a second set of offsets, and
including portions of the second set of offsets in the main tool path.
16. The method of claim 10 , wherein a transition toolpath follows one or more segments of a medial axis.
17. The method of claim 10 , wherein portions of two or more cuts are derived from a succession of parallel offset curves.
18. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the transition areas is milled using a strategy that feeds the cutting tool into the area with substantially a circular motion.
19. The method of claim 10 , further comprising cutting at least one of the transition areas with multiple axial depths of cut.
20. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
offsetting inwards one or more subsets of a boundary to form a first set of offsets;
offsetting outwards the first set of offsets one or more times to form a second set of offsets, and
including portions of the second set of offsets in the main tool path.
21. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connecting moves occur at a higher feedrate than would be possible if they did not occur substantially inside a transition area.
22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, comprising:
instructions for receiving a main toolpath, the main toolpath comprising two or more cuts;
instructions for computing one or more transition toolpaths, each transition toolpath defining a transition area intersecting one or more of the cuts of the main toolpath;
instructions for connecting the completion of one cut to the beginning of the next cut with one or more connecting moves such that each connecting move is substantially inside one or more of the transition areas wherein the cutting tool is substantially disengaged from a workpiece during the connecting move within the transition areas; and
instructions for milling selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the cuts, transition toolpaths, and connecting moves, wherein the instructions for milling include instructions for removing material from a portion of at least one of the transition areas corresponding to one of the computed transition toolpaths.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , further comprising cutting at least one of the transition areas with multiple axial depths of cut.
24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , further comprising:
instructions for offsetting inwards one or more subsets of a boundary to form a first set of offsets;
instructions for offsetting outwards the first set of offsets one or more times to form a second set of offsets, and
instructions for including portions of the second set of offsets in the main tool path.
25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the connecting moves occur at a higher feedrate than would be possible if they did not occur substantially inside a transition area.
26. A system, comprising:
a numerically controlled machine having associated therewith a cutting tool;
a component configured to receive a main toolpath, the main toolpath comprising two or more cuts;
a component configured to compute one or more transition toolpaths, each transition toolpath defining a transition area intersecting one or more of the cuts of the main toolpath;
a component configured to connect the completion of one cut to the beginning of the next cut with one or more connecting moves such that each connecting move is substantially inside one or more of the transition areas wherein the cutting tool is substantially disengaged from a workpiece during the connecting move within the transition areas; and
a component configured to mill selected portions of the workpiece by moving the cutting tool in accordance with the cuts, transition toolpaths, and connecting moves, wherein the milling includes removing material from a portion of at least one of the transition areas corresponding to one of the computed transition toolpaths.
27. The system of claim 26 , wherein a transition toolpath follows one or more segments of a medial axis.
28. The system of claim 26 , wherein portions of two or more cuts are derived from a succession of parallel offset curves.
29. The system of claim 26 , wherein at least one of the transition areas is milled using a strategy that feeds the cutting tool into the area with substantially circular motion.
30. The method of claim 26 , wherein the connecting moves occur at a higher feedrate than would be possible if they did not occur substantially inside a transition area.