RocketPort - NC Graphics

RocketPort Controllers are used by a leading supplier of CADCAM equipment used to control a number of CNC machine tools, plotters and printers.

Challenge

Most tools and moulds used to make components for the automotive, aerospace, household goods and point of sale equipment are made using computer controlled machine tools. To control these machines NC Graphics have developed a range of CADCAM software. This creates a 2D or 3D model of the moulds, which is then fed to a range of automatic lathes and milling machines as a series of cutting instructions. To improve efficiency, several machines are often run from one computer. This is where the RocketPort comes in.

Technology Solution

The RocketPort feeds instructions from the program via an RS232 link to each of the cutting machines. The Pattern Equipment Company of Leicester, England uses this approach. They are one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of foundry patterns for the car industry. These patterns are then used to make cylinder heads, inlet and exhaust manifolds for major automotive companies in the UK and overseas.

The Pattern Equipment Company uses an eight port RocketPort on a Pentium 133 to simultaneously download control data from the NC Graphics programs to seven machine tools. The manufacture of these patterns requires the cutting of very complex 3D shapes, so complex that the NC programs are too large to fit into the machine tools memory and so has to be drip-fed from the computer as the machining proceeds. The high speed and low overhead requirements of the RocketPort make it ideal for downloading this data.