Favor Laser's new XO high performance laser cutting machine is based on custom CNC hardware and software from NUM.
Flying optics can position the XO machine's laser beam anywhere within a 1.5 x 3 meter working area to an accuracy of ±0.01 mm.
The XO laser cutting machine's versatility makes it useful for high volume production of intricate precision components.
Customized CNC technology from NUM is helping laser cutting machine manufacturer Favor Laser (New Taipei City, Taiwan) to accelerate product development and address new markets. Using hardware and software designed by NUM, the Taiwanese company has developed a high precision laser cutter that is capable of producing very small or very large parts from sheet metal with a feed rate of up to 60 meters per minute.
All Favor Laser machines are based on a flying optics system, where the metal sheet that is being cut is supported on a stationary table and the cutting head, which directs the laser beam, is moved horizontally above the surface of the sheet. "This approach has several significant advantages over machines that move the workpiece beneath a static laser beam," said a company spokesperson. "The cutting head has a low and constant mass which facilitates fast and precise positioning, whereas moving the workpiece - which changes mass throughout the cutting process - is slower and more difficult to achieve, demanding complex and expensive motion control systems to maintain cutting accuracy. As well as improving machine throughput and productivity, when cutting thin material the faster cutting speed of flying optic laser cutters helps prevent heat build-up from deforming the workpiece."
Favor Laser's new XO high performance laser cutter is a 4-axis machine, but uses two motors for the X-axis. Horizontal positioning of the cutting head is handled by the X and Y axes, while the Z-axis controls the height of the head above the surface of the workpiece and the fourth (U) axis is used for loading and unloading material. Patented adaptive optics compensate for the length of laser beam, which varies depending on the position of the cutting head relative to the laser oscillator. A high-speed servo is used for the Z-axis. The gap between the cutting head and workpiece is continually monitored and adjusted to maintain beam focus and maximize cutting efficiency.
Favor Laser uses NUM's Flexium 68 CNC system for its new XO machine. The CNC was chosen for both hardware and software reasons: Flexium 68's motion control hardware closely matched the control required for this type of machine, plus it included built-in configuration flexibility for future enhancements and offered software functionality that would simplify application programming. "In particular, the Dynamic Operator (DO) function, which is unique to NUM, was judged ideal for the program that dynamically controls the gap between the cutting head and the workpiece," said the spokesperson. "By using fast calculation and communication facilities, the DO function enables event-driven machine cycles to be integrated into the real-time CNC kernel."
Favor Laser also sought a CNC systems supplier that was prepared to actively participate in development of the XO laser cutter. According to the company's General Manager, Mr. Lai, "After choosing the NUM CNC system on economic and technical grounds, we were delighted to discover that NUM Taiwan had the engineering expertise and resources, and above all the willingness, to assist us at every stage of design. Thanks to their help, which included developing custom hardware and CNC software, we have been able to bring our new XO high performance laser cutter to market on time and on budget. As a result of reduced development and build costs we have gained an enormous competitive advantage. Our machine is likely to be priced about 20-30% below that of comparable machines from Japanese and German manufacturers."
All motion control elements of the XO laser cutter are supplied by NUM. In addition to the motors, drives and Flexium 68 CNC kernel, the machine uses NUM Ethercat I/O terminals and a dual-processor Flexium FS152i operator panel with a 15" flat screen and hard drive running the Windows operating system. The custom human-machine interface (HMI) was developed entirely by NUM Taiwan and is designed to be intuitive and easy to use. Currently available in English as well as traditional and simplified Chinese, the HMI can be adapted to other languages to support international sales. It makes use of graphics - including visualization of the workpiece and cutting course - to simplify machine operation and minimize training needs.
The XO laser cutter uses NUM brushless servomotors and NUMDrive C servodrives exclusively. To help ensure smooth operation, high inertia BPG series motors are employed for the main X, Y and U positioning axes (the X-axis uses two motors) while the Z-axis is fitted with a medium inertia BPX series model equipped with a holding brake. The X, Y and Z axes are fully interpolated to help provide smooth and continuous control of the cutting head's position and height above the workpiece. The Z-axis has a working range of 100 mm, while the X and Y axes have working lengths of 3 and 1.5 meters, respectively. "This large working area, combined with an XY positioning accuracy of ±0.01 mm, makes the XO a versatile machine that is equally capable of precision cutting of multiple small parts or the cutting of large parts from a single sheet of metal," said the spokesperson.
A choice of CO2 laser oscillators with power outputs of 3.3, 4 and 6 kW allows machine performance to be matched to the workpiece material to provide cutting feed rates as high as 60 meters/minute. The machine can also perform a number of specialist metal fabrication functions including micro welding and micro joining.
"During any laser cutting process, the operating conditions can change abruptly, demanding quick adjustment of a large number of parameters to ensure consistent performance," said a company spokesperson. "Controlling the power output of the laser oscillator is a design challenge and requires fast and stable communication facilities. To meet these demands, NUM Taiwan developed a pulse train control card for the CO2 laser oscillator in the XO machine. Implemented entirely into the hardware (the use of software would impose unacceptable timing restrictions), the card translates duty cycle and frequency control signals, which are optically coupled to the oscillator to minimize transmission delay. It is suitable for use with many commercial laser oscillators and can be adjusted for any laser power output from 1 to 10 kW in 1 kW steps. NUM intends on adding the card to its product line in the near future, making it available to other cutting machine manufacturers.
"The performance of NUM's CNC products and the responsiveness of NUM Taiwan has caused Favor Laser to completely re-evaluate its machine control strategy. As well as making exclusive use of NUM hardware and software for its new XO machine, the company intends to migrate all of its existing product lines over to NUM's CNC technology. This will involve equipping its range of low cost laser cutters with Flexium 6 or Flexium 8 CNC systems. Although these machines will be produced at Favor Laser's manufacturing plant in China, all CNC support will be provided by NUM Taiwan."
For more information contact:
NUM Corporation
603 East Diehl Road, Suite 115
Naperville, IL 60563
630-505-7722
sales.us@num.com
www.num.com
Favor Laser Inc.
www.favorlaser.com.tw