KinematicsOpt: perfectly calibrated machine kinematics

Accuracy requirements are becoming ever more stringent, particularly in the realm of 5-axis machining. Complex parts must be manufactured with both precision and reproducible accuracy, including over extended periods of time. During machining, however, machine components are subjected to relatively high temperature fluctuations resulting from axis movements and the spindle. If you strive for optimal machining results, then the kinematics transformation chain should be adapted to these changes as well. HEIDENHAIN controls can assist you in this complex task with the KinematicsOpt software option.

With KinematicsOpt,

you do not require detailed knowledge of your machine’s kinematic configuration,
you can recalibrate your milling machine on your own in just minutes,
you can achieve consistently high quality, both in serial production runs and in one-off jobs, and
you can ordinarily use already existing measurement equipment.

Touch probes

A single option instead of four cycles

KinematicsOpt

applies the recalibration,
saves all of the data regarding changes to the kinematic configuration,
allows you to easily restore past configurations at any time, and
accommodates documentation requirements, such as for the medical technology industry

In addition, KinematicsOpt groups special probing cycles together, so that they are fully integrated into the TNC control and can be called as separate functions:

Cycle 451 MEASURE KINEMATICS
Cycle 452 PRESET COMPENSATION
Cycle 450 SAVE KINEMATICS

Remarkably simple operation

With a 3D touch trigger probe, you can ascertain the position of a high-precision calibration sphere in various rotary axis positions. You then receive a report providing the actual accuracy during tilting at the present time.

Based on the measured values, the TNC control determines the spatial errors that arise from the tilting of the axes. The cycle calculates the optimized kinematic machine description for minimizing these errors and saves it as the active machine kinematics.

Informative help graphics and dialogs support you during the definition of the corresponding probing cycles. You are free to define the position and number of the measuring points and thereby optimally adapt the cycles to your machine and its requirements.

In this manner, you can improve the accuracy of the following available rotary axes:

Rotary table
Tilting table
Swivel head

Adjustment of interchangeable heads

You can use KinematicsOpt on large milling machines to adjust the interchangeable heads based on a defined reference head. As a result, you can ensure that the workpiece preset remains unchanged after the rotary axes have been changed (head change).

Drift compensation

During machining, various machine components undergo drift caused by changing environmental factors and temperature changes. If the drift is sufficiently constant over the range of traverse, and if a calibration sphere can remain on the machine table during machining, then you can use Cycle 452 from the KinematicsOpt package to ascertain the amount of drift, store the values in the control, and compensate for them. This makes KinematicsOpt attractive for use on three-axis machines as well.

In-process, fully automated measurement

If desired, KinematicsOpt can utilize the ascertained data to handle the optimization of the measured axes and make the necessary changes to the machine data fully automatically. If the calibration sphere is firmly mounted to the machine table, then the entire procedure can be performed efficiently and automatically between individual machining processes.

For industries such as the aerospace industry and the medical technology industry, the required inspection and validation processes can therefore be performed with much shorter interruptions to the production process and with less cost and effort.