Basic design of a computer vision based controller for desktop NC engraving machine

The computer vision is a field which provides many advantages to all the engineering domains. In this paper, a desktop size NC machine tool is first proposed. The developed controller enables the machine tool to be controlled based on both CL data and NC data generated from CAD/CAM systems. Then, a computer vision component using a depth camera is proposed for the NC machine tool. It is explained that how the depth camera should be used for the measurement of the dimensions of workpieces and their position on the machining table. The research on image processing consists of two parts. The first part deals with the design of the computer vision component for numerical control. This part is mainly composed of the design of an image processor which role is to deal with every aspect concerning the processing of the scene captured by the depth camera. The first part allows us to automatically retrieve the dimensions and positions of workpieces on the machining table. In the second part, a new component that called “NC code adapter” is introduced. Designing “NC code Adapter” will allow us to automatically modify NC codes according to the sizes of workpieces retrieved from the image processor. This component is very important since it adds a new functionalities to the machine tool; for instance, engraving the same CAD model to different workpieces of different sizes on a table in a single process. Here, the developed NC machine tool, its controller, the image processor and the concept of “NC code adapter” are introduced.