μCAD2NC : a declarative lathe-workplanning model transforming CAD-like geometries into abstract NC programs

Abstract

μCAD2NC is a knowledge-based system generating workplans for idealized lathe CNC machines. It transforms CAD-like geometries of rotational-symmetric workpieces into abstract NC programs, using declarative term representations for all processing steps. The system has been developed using COLAB, a hybrid-knowledge compilation laboratory which integrates the power of forward and backward reasoning (incI. functional programming), constraint propagation, and taxonomic classification. The focus of this work is on exemplifying techniques of the hybrid, declarative COLAB formalisms for the central subtasks of CAD-to-NC transformations.