What Is a Distributed Numerical Control (DNC) System?
A distributed numerical control (DNC) system is an online direct numerical control system for various NC machine tools.
When numerical control of NC machine tools (mostly CNC machine tools) is performed, numerical data is exchanged via floppy disk (FD) or USB.
A distributed numerical control (DNC) system allows you to operate NC machine tools directly from your computer without using FD or USB through a network connection.
By establishing an online environment via LAN, multiple NC machine tools can be operated and managed centrally.
Uses of Distributed Numerical Control (DNC) Systems
Uses of distributed numerical control (DNC) systems are to operate multiple NC machine tools from a computer by connecting various NC machine tools to a network, and to exchange information between computers and NC machine tools.
Distributed numerical control (DNC) systems enable the exchange of large volumes of data, long-hour scheduled operation, and unmanned operation, which were not possible with conventional CNC machine tools.
In addition to transferring information from the computer to the NC machine tool, the DNC system can also acquire various data from the NC machine tool and transfer it to the computer.
Based on the data fed back from the NC machine tool to the computer, the operating status of the NC machine tool can be managed.
Principle of Distributed Numerical Control (DNC) Systems
With conventional CNC machine tools, numerical data is sent from the computer to the NC machine tool via FD or USB, or directly from the computer attached to the NC machine tool.
However, the method via FD or USB has the disadvantage that the amount of data that can be sent is limited and the data transfer is time-consuming.
In addition, when a human operator inputs numerical values directly from the computer attached to the NC machine tool, they may sometimes input the values incorrectly.
To solve the above drawbacks, the distributed numerical control (DNC) system networks the computer and NC machine tool and transfers numerical data directly from the computer to the NC machine tool.
Cables used for the network include LAN cables and optical cables.
Computers for information viewing, CAD/CAM, displays, and NC machine tools can be connected via a network.
To connect NC machine tools, the network (LAN cable) and NC machine tools (RS-232C cable) are connected via a special conversion adapter.
Information can also be wirelessly transferred from the information viewing computer to a cell phone in order to check the operating status of the NC machine tool at a distance from the computer.