With the development of the laser industry, laser technology, as a processing technology, is widely used in various fields. Laser cutting technology has also been widely used in the processing industry. Among them, the groove processing of thick steel plates is an essential process. To ensure seamless docking of some workpieces during welding, the requirements for workpiece processing are relatively high, and the cutting surface needs to have a certain groove angle.
Under the market application demand, many laser equipment enterprises have launched groove laser cutting machines. However, for end users in the application field, in order to improve processing efficiency and quality, in addition to choosing a user-friendly groove laser cutting machine, the supporting groove cutting software system is also very important.
In 'Entering the Era of Software Definition', Academician Mei Hong elaborated on the foundational nature of software technology as follows: From the perspective of enabling technology, software technology has always been in the 'soul' position in information technology. All new information technology applications, platforms, and service models cannot be separated from software technology as the basic support. More importantly, in the digital economy era, software technology has become the core competitiveness of enterprises, not only leading the transformation of the information technology industry, but also in many traditional fields The proportion and importance of existence in industries such as automobiles, energy, manufacturing, retail, etc. are also constantly increasing, playing a core and key role in supporting the upgrading and even disruptive innovation of industrial structures in these traditional fields, and further accelerating the reconstruction of the global division of labor system and competitive landscape
1、 High power laser cutting control system still needs to be replaced by domestic ones
In the entire laser cutting equipment, the motion control system can be described as the brain of the equipment during operation. A motion control system generally consists of components such as a controller, power amplifier and conversion device, motor, load, and related sensors. After the controller issues instructions, the driver converts it into current that can run the motor, driving the motor to rotate and driving the working machinery to run. At the same time, the sensors on the motor process signals to feed back the real-time information of the motor to the controller, which makes real-time adjustments to ensure the stable operation of the entire system.
From the perspective of the degree of localization of laser cutting systems, in the field of medium and low power laser cutting control systems, domestically produced laser motion control systems have currently occupied a dominant position in the Chinese market. In the field of high-power laser cutting control systems, international manufacturers still hold an absolute advantage, with well-known enterprises including Germany's Beifu, Germany's PA, Siemens, etc.
Taking the three-dimensional five axis laser cutting machine as an example, it is mainly suitable for materials such as carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc. in the fields of aerospace, automotive manufacturing, engineering machinery, molds, fitness equipment, etc. However, there are still some difficulties in the software system supporting the 3D five axis laser cutting machine.
1) Domestic supporting software systems are in the accumulation stage
At present, a few laser equipment manufacturers in China have launched three-dimensional five axis laser cutting machines. In contrast, in terms of three-dimensional and five axis spatial trajectory motion control, domestic mainstream laser cutting control system suppliers have almost started from scratch in this field, requiring technical capabilities and experience accumulation.
2) High cost of overseas procurement for nesting software
On the other hand, nesting software is a CAM software (computer-aided manufacturing) used to create nesting and prepare parts for cutting. Firstly, part geometry is usually imported from CAD. Secondly, apply various cutting parameters and prepare documents for processing. Finally, the user manually creates the nesting, or the software automatically creates the nesting. Automatic nesting uses one or more mathematical algorithms to automatically add graphics to the nesting, while rotating and assembling parts to achieve optimal utilization. In many cases, software considers different combinations of parts, sheets, and nesting strategies to achieve the best overall effect. However, the cost of purchasing groove nesting software software is too high, and domestic enterprises are still immature in this aspect, resulting in a lack of software functionality.
3) Equipment manufacturers lack experience in groove cutting
In addition, due to the lack of experience of equipment manufacturers in groove cutting, the market capacity has not yet been released. At the same time, the swing head structure must be precisely matched with the control system software in order to facilitate installation and debugging, and achieve the final use effect, achieving cutting speed and accuracy requirements. Therefore, the equipment manufacturer's own design and production of beveled joints carries both the risk of failure and cost pressure.
4) Laser groove cutting process still needs sedimentation
In the new market application field of laser groove cutting, laser equipment manufacturers and terminals still have insufficient experience. Laser groove cutting, as a market direction, requires time accumulation and experience accumulation in the process, and the future demand will be rapidly increasing. At this point, a powerful and open control software process database is needed, which is convenient for users to gradually form a mature expert process database on this basis.
2、 How to choose a software system for groove laser cutting
The following will take the WisCut B groove laser cutting control software system of WisCut as an example to introduce. Wisdom has independently developed professional groove cutting and nesting software, which has the basic functions of groove cutting and nesting, and can meet the vast majority of production needs. It can also provide overall software and hardware solutions for groove swing head structures.
The WisCut B groove laser cutting control system and software is a high-end laser cutting software independently developed by Wuhan Weishideng, based on the German Beifu 3D 5-axis CNC system. The entire control system and software consists of the core "3"+"3"="6" core software and hardware. It is a globally renowned large brand CNC system and the most mature and widely installed groove laser cutting control system on the market.
'3' major core hardware
German Beifu 3D Five Axis CNC System
As mentioned earlier, domestic enterprises are still in the stage of accumulating experience in 3D and 5-axis CNC systems. German Beifu is a globally renowned brand and also the inventor and advocate of EtherCAT bus. WisCut software is based on the hardware platform with the best stability and reliability, and the core hardware consists of Beifu Industrial PC controller and bus IO module. The C6xxx series ultra compact industrial PC adopts the industrial PC motherboard independently developed and produced by Beifu, with a sturdy aluminum shell, which combines strong computing power and scalability to create a stable and reliable industrial PC; The Beifu EtherCAT terminal module has a sturdy casing, safe and reliable contacts, and stable electronic components. EtherCAT high-speed real-time bus communication allows for arbitrary expansion of IO points and signal types, making it flexible and convenient.
The 3D five axis CNC system based on PC and EtherCAT bus from Germany's Beifu has the world's most mature RTCP 3D five axis spatial motion control algorithm. The groove laser cutting must be based on the RTCP function to achieve spatial motion control of the cutting head. The RTCP function of the German Beifu CNC system has over 20 years of mature application experience, and is widely used in fields such as laser groove cutting, plasma/flame groove cutting, three-dimensional five axis laser cutting, and five axis CNC machining centers.
Bus height adjuster
Bus control system refers to a professional control system that integrates motion controllers, computers, and height controllers, connects peripherals with network cables, and communicates with other peripherals through real-time Ethernet protocol, achieving higher real-time performance and stability. The WSD-M-TG-Epro is a bus based capacitor servo height adjustment system, independently developed, designed and manufactured by Wuhan Weishideng Company. It has a maximum acceleration of 3G and a maximum speed of 999mm/s. It uses high-performance real-time industrial Ethernet EtherCAT bus to communicate with the controller, with an accuracy of 0.001mm. It has the following functions:
Equipped with anti-collision function, effectively avoiding the collision between the plate lifting and foreign objects on the nozzle/ceramic ring during empty travel and cutting processes; Cooperating with WisCut software, it has functions such as three-point edge finding, and edge finding protection function; The vibration suppression function can effectively suppress the vibration phenomenon caused by plate shaking and cutting head following process; Paired with WisCut, it can achieve various perforation modes such as frog jumping, high-speed follow-up, high, medium, and low position perforation, as well as multi segment perforation, progressive perforation, high-speed perforation, and insensitivity perforation.
Beveled pendulum structure
The groove swinging head structure independently developed and designed by Wuhan Weishideng is deeply integrated with the German Beifu CNC system, and paired with the WisCut B series software to become a complete overall solution. This structure has these technical characteristics: flexibility, strong scalability, and can be equipped with different types and configurations of laser cutting heads; Adopting an integrated design of AC servo harmonic reducer, with an AB axis rotary swing actuator; Lightweight and stable structural design; High dynamic characteristics, high precision, and high rigidity; Reliable dustproof design; Absolute encoder feedback, safety angle protection function.
The technical parameters are shown in the following figure:
'3' major core software
WisCNC laser motion control software
The laser motion control and logic control software developed by Wuhan Weishideng Company is based on the German Beifu TwinCAT CNC real-time bottom core platform. Technical highlights include: 3D five axis G code architecture program, RTCP tool tip calibration algorithm, high-speed gantry dual drive motion control protection program, CNC Z-axis high-speed motion control algorithm, high-speed CNC intelligent frog jumping algorithm, lightning cutting/flight cutting algorithm, fast perforation/insensitivity perforation algorithm, breakpoint/power outage continuation function algorithm.
WisCut B groove laser cutting software
Wisdom is a high-power specialized laser cutting software developed using Python high-level language, with complete functions, excellent performance, convenient operation, and easy to use. The software consists of the following functional modules:
WisHMI: Humanized UI human-machine interface
WisDebug: Integrated Integrated Debugging Software
WisCDB: Cutting Process Expert Database
WisVision: Laser cutting machine vision software and other functional modules are composed of software that supports multi camera visual monitoring, supports cutting software and monitoring software running on the same display (standard), and has machine vision perception of personnel and objects entering the monitoring area and triggering an alarm function (optional).
WisNest B groove editing and nesting software
Online editing of groove cutting trajectory, with the ability to set multiple groove types and different groove angles and thicknesses to meet customer needs for sampling and rapid processing; Includes WisNest flat nesting software, allowing for arbitrary changes in flat cutting and groove cutting modes; A drawing software that conforms to AutoCAD operating habits and provides rich graphic editing tools. It can directly draw or import DXF graphics for editing on the software interface, and directly cut without the need to convert graphic G code again; Provide a diverse library of graphic parts for easy and efficient sampling, cutting, and process testing. A layout and nesting software that is simple, easy to use, and in line with the operating habits in the field of laser cutting. It has intelligent and efficient layout algorithms, multiple trajectory optimization algorithms, and advanced functions such as micro connection, bridging, co edge, ring cutting, compensation, etc.
In addition, the attachment contains a wireless handheld operation box designed and developed specifically for laser cutting, with multiple operation function buttons, which can facilitate and quickly operate and debug the laser cutting machine tool. Equipped with complete EtherCAT real-time industrial Ethernet bus cables, DP/DVI/VGA display conversion connectors.
Irregular curves and 45 degree groove cutting
In terms of spatial trajectory and motion control, standard straight lines and arcs for groove cutting are relatively simpler. However, for groove cutting of irregular curves, it further tests the underlying algorithm function of the 3D five axis RTCP of the CNC system.
Cutting a 45 degree groove has always been a challenge for the entire industry. The larger the angle, the higher the requirements for the stability of the machine tool structure and the verticality between the XYZ three axes. At the same time, it also greatly tests the technical performance of the AB axis pendulum mechanism, such as rigidity and rotational accuracy. Even so, a cutting software with powerful underlying algorithms, complete upper level cutting software functions, and flexible and convenient groove cutting process database is still needed to cooperate, continuously optimize the mechanical structure and cutting process, in order to achieve a 45 degree groove cutting.
The following are some irregular curves and 45 degree groove cutting parts processed and produced on site by a machine using WisCut B laser groove cutting software.
The control system is equivalent to our human brain, and all external instructions that enter the control system are processed and issued through it. In groove cutting, a large number of states need to be processed and adjusted by the control system, and various set data relationships need to be calculated. It is also necessary to be able to handle various cutting processes, various changing factors in cutting motion, and other aspects.
