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Oct. 27, 2009: Stimulus Tax Dollars Supporting the Future of CNC Manufacturing

 

VeritasCNC Inc. (Carrboro, NC) announces the award of a National Science Foundation (NSF)
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop products that will fundamentally
change the way parts are machined. Dr. Donald Esterling, CEO of VeritasCNC, pioneered the
development and wide-spread commercialization of NC verification. VeritasCNC is developing
similar disruptive productivity tools in collaboration with leading industry, university and
government laboratories. The products are based on proven scientific principles that operate
“under the hood” presenting the user with an easy to understand, machinist-friendly interface.

 

The flagship products cncCheck™ and cncTune™, currently available from VeritasCNC, apply a
combined physics and geometry model that respectively analyzes CNC part programs and
optimizes the tool path with continuously variable feeds. cncCheck performs critical machining
process validation for the CAM-generated part program, much as NC verification provides an
essential path geometry validation. cncTune automatically adjusts programmed feeds based on
familiar machining conditions. Rather than relying on best guesses for a maximum material
removal rate, which is often not well known and can vary from tool to tool or part to part,
cncTune adjusts feeds using such practical settings as available spindle power, part quality
(tolerance), chip load and tool breakage concerns. “Optimization” is allowed only within safe
limits and at times cncTune may actually slow down the cutting speed. The first concerns are
part quality and tool/CNC health; feeds are only maximized within the prescribed limits.

 

Moving beyond CAM analysis and optimization, VeritasCNC is developing automated tool wear
prediction by integrating CNC control information with its science-based model. No more
guessing on how long the tool will last. No more onerous training and experiments prior to
final machining. Tool wear will be monitored and predicted from the very first tool cut, guided
by science-based tool force computations, automatically adjusting feeds to safe levels. Tool
wear is often ignored in optimization, but is a critical factor. Experimental tests by VeritasCNC
and collaborators demonstrate that forces can double or more with a worn tool while the tool
remains serviceable. This is similar to setting a car’s cruise control to 60 MPH when a safe speed
(e.g. due to ice or road conditions) is 30 MPH … an accident waiting to happen. Prototype
systems demonstrate that VeritasCNC products will be able to predict tool wear transparently
and directly from the CNC data, not relying on often unreliable Taylor Law estimates.

About VeritasCNC
VeritasCNC Inc. was founded to develop products that will fundamentally alter current
manufacturing practice. Building on past success in geometric validation (NC verification),
VeritasCNC is applying proven scientific models of the cutting process to assist manufacturers in
selecting safe and optimal CNC cutting conditions. The current research grant, totaling almost
three quarters of a million dollars when combined with funding from the State of North
Carolina, was subjected to an intense technical and business review process. Less than 5% of
the companies submitting initial applications receive NSF SBIR (Phase 2) funding.