Designed
to address the needs of complex turning and milling machines for job shops, the
Sinumerik 828D combines CNC, PLC, operator panel and axis control for six CNC
measurement circuits in a single robust operator panel. Offering intelligent
kinematic transformations, an efficient tool management system and 80-bit
floating point nano precision, the new control provides performance features
previously reserved for the premium CNC control segment.
"The
828D is a new control platform focused on compact class CNC machines, says Jon
Cruthers, manager of business development for Siemens. It is used in milling
applications up to six axes, and turning applications up to eight axes while also
supporting live tooling."
Cruthers
says that to bring advanced features to this compact class machine tool, they have
added support for multiple CNC programming methodologies. Along with traditional
G Code and ISO code programming, the unit also supports the more intuitive,
graphical style programming with Siemens' ShopMill or ShopTurn graphical
workstep programming systems. Any of the programming options can be used
interchangeably on a common HMI.
"It
gives the user flexibility to program in a format they are used to programming
or in a new way which can provide more simplicity and ease of use," he says.
One
capability is Advanced Surface which allows users to do advanced mold and die
applications on a simple three-axis milling machine. Advanced Surface provides
better surface quality, higher machining speeds and optimizes the drives and
control of the tool to achieve an advanced surface finish easily on a mid-range
machine.
In
addition, 80-bit floating point nano precision provides highly accurate position
and speed control, features typically reserved for the higher end CNCs to achieve
that level of accuracy.
CNC
simulations are also provided, so the user can run a part program in simulation
mode on the CNC to get a full 3-D view. Users can zoom in on the part, and it
allows the operator to estimate machining time prior to running the part.
One
capability that Cruthers says is of great interest is called Animated Elements
which creates short movie-like sequences instead of static bitmaps to show what
a particular operation, whether it's a drilling operation or type of motion
path, will look like. The movie sequence helps the user see what they have
programmed prior to the actual machining of the part.
Another
unique feature is Easy Message, which provides the capability to send simple
text messages through a GSM modem supplied by Siemens and to any number of
users on machine states, tool data, alarms and production states. The feature,
for example, enables an operator or job shop manager to set-up a part to run,
and when the part is complete, receive a pre-defined text message.
"Many
of these features are unique to the 828D," says Cruthers. "We see that many job
shops are moving up into more complex five-axis style machining and are starting
to take on more complex machining tasks. This allows an operator that has been
working on a very simple three-axis machine to easily move into more complex
machining tasks without having to learn a whole new way of machining parts."
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