Open Architecture: It’s Not Brain Surgery

When adding capabilities to your CNC machine environment, sometimes a bit of brain surgery is required. This means making modifications to the brains of your machine tool – the CNC control. We encountered this kind of scenario recently when we were asked to integrate a new ZOLLER presetter and Kennametal ToolBOSS™ tool management system with a machine. This was a good, productive upgrade, but initially we thought – wow, this is going to be MAJOR surgery! And this kind of challenge is very common.

Many of our customers and members of Partners in THINC are taking advantage of the Okuma THINC^®-OSP CNC control to help solve unique requirements or streamline business processes by creating custom applications. This is where the Windows^®-based, open architecture platform of the THINC-OSP control comes in very handy, to say the least. Its open and fluid platform allows the end user to take advantage of new capabilities as they become available, without a costly CNC control overhaul. The following discussion describes how we did it when adding the presetter and tool management system. It was easier than we thought.

Life is Good…Until Requirements Change

As a for-instance, let’s say an application A is required to interact with a service B, and service B needs to interact with service C. One solution for this requirement is to establish direct communication between the two of A and service B, and service B and service C. With this solution, “life is good” until one day when the requirements also need to support a scenario where A is required to interact with B1, and B1 needs to interact with C1. Although B1 and C1 are functionally the same with B and C services, the solution requires a major change to support these new requirements. Is there a way to cope with this fast-changing world of requirements? The answer is “Yes!”

Coping with a Fast-changing World

One way to cope with this problem is to decouple the dependency between each direct communication into a relative isolation. This is known as the Dependency Inversion Principle or Inversion of Control (IoC). With this principle in mind, the “A” application no longer needs to link directly to service B or B1, and so for B/B1 to C/C1. In our example, by applying the IoC/DI framework in the design of the application we made the solution more flexible and easier to adapt with new requirements.

So how are they all working together? All this can be done by applying the Dependency Injection (DI) pattern, which allows the selection of different implementations for a specific interface at run time. In configuration files, this means that if application “A” needs to communicate with service B1, then it is configured at run time, or in the configuration file. And the same for other services.

There are quite a few open source frameworks that support IoC/DI to further simplify the task of configuring and maintaining decoupled or very loosely coupled design. Microsoft’s Unity Application Block also supports IoC/DI, and all applications designed with IoC/DI can run on Okuma THINC-OSP CNC controls.

The Door is Open for Continuous Process Improvement

The challenges of today's CNC machining industry create a need for smarter, more flexible solutions. Open architecture CNC controls provide a platform for customization and ongoing upgrades that provide users with the kind of flexibility they need to maximize lean performance. This keeps the door open for continuous process improvement, greatly increasing lifetime return on investment.

Open architecture also opens up the possibilities for sharing solutions amongst developers, as I’ve done here. Right now there’s a THINC Developers Group that’s being organized to foster and streamline the sharing process. And check out Thincster, “The Unofficial Okuma THINC API Solution Center.” This forum is run by two Gosiger engineers who are developing custom applications for their customers. As you’ll see, they even post code they’ve written for others to use.

If all this makes you think you don’t know enough about THINC, then check out our white paper, “Open Architecture CNC Controls Optimize Machine Tool Performance.” And feel free to comment below or contact us if you have a system implementation that’s been challenging for you.

Linh Huynh is Senior Software Engineer, Okuma America Corporation.