Techserv CNC
Techserv CNC Software Control System
Plasma and gas cutting machines are essentially large XY plotters fitted with a cutting head. As a result they can be driven using very simple control systems offering little more than XY path following functions. Whilst this can be adequate for some applications, a well designed CNC control system can;
- Improve productivity with the Techserv CNC control system software
- Reduce scrap
- Decrease operator errors
- Automate repetitive tasks with Techserv CNC control software
Typically these bespoke systems will be used to manufacture a wide range of products from fork trucks to bridges, buildings and ships, through to signs and small fabricated parts.
The powerful Techserv CNC control software system has been designed from the offset to control cutting machines and includes features not found on most hobby systems.
CNC System Features
- Control
- Data Logging
- Diagnostic
- Dynamic re-position
- Easy Shape Selection
- Forward and reverse along cut path.
Techserv’s CNC Control System Design
When Techserv started programming the bespoke control system some years ago, we were very conscious that control systems tended to be designed by computer engineers sitting in a computer engineer’s office whereas what we wanted was a system that would be designed ideally by the end user. In the first six months we spent quite a lot of time at a customer who took an early version of the system, we’d make a few modifications and get feedback direct from the customer if he thought it was a good idea or a bad idea and what thoughts they had. Over that 6 month period we built a system that between us we thought was absolutely ideal.
CNC Systems Working For People
A a lot of the basic control stuff is really invisible to the operator so they don’t have involvement there, but it’s more than the front end; how you move from screen to screen, what functions you need to carry out, at which time.
Simplified CNC Systems
Although it sounds fairly basic – you load a shape, you cut it – there’s quite a bit of involvement in there dynamically moving shapes around, manipulating shapes, choosing shapes out of nests, automatically set up of gas pressures and plasma controls. It all becomes quite complex.
For Techserv it’s a case of how you remove that complexity and how you make it easy to operate so the key thing is ease of operation and, on the face of it, a simple control system. On the downside, people tend to think it looks overly simple. In reality the complexity is in there but it is only there when you need it.
With the Techserv CNC system if you’re using the gas cutting it controls the gas pressures automatically so there’s no regulator on the machine and so it leads to an uncluttered machine with very simple gas controls because they’re all electronic – it means you can adjust them ‘on the fly’, you can add set ups for different material thicknesses which are all integrated in. The consequence of this is the machinery itself looks much simpler because we lose all the clutter on the machine so again it;s a simple design, it lends itself to be an uncluttered, uncomplicated machine.
When running with Plasma the system automatically sets the initial height, the arc voltage, the speed and other parameters, it can also communicate with the plasma and set that as well.