A Level-based Geometric Representation for the Real-time Simulation of NC Machining Processes

In this paper a level-based geometric representation for a real-time material removal simulator is presented. It will be embedded into a commercial NC machine. The representation and its accompanying architecture have been used for the generation of an interactive simulation of a part being machined, taking the NC machine feedback as input. The simulator complies with the following restrictions: i) The virtual simulation and real machining process must be synchronized; ii) the internal representation of the objects must be as accurate as possible.