Contour Crafting is an emerging technology that uses robotics to construct free form building structures by repeatedly laying down layers of material such as concrete. The Contour Crafting technology scales up automated additive fabrication from building small industrial parts to constructing buildings. Tool path planning and optimization for Contour Crafting benefit the technology by increasin...

Contour Crafting is an emerging technology that uses robotics to construct free form building structures by repeatedly laying down layers of material such as concrete. The Contour Crafting technology scales up automated additive fabrication from building small industrial parts to constructing buildings. Tool path planning and optimization for Contour Crafting benefit the technology by increasin...

This paper presents an analytical method for planning an efficient tool-path in machining free-form surfaces on 3-axis milling machines. This new approach uses a nonconstant offset of the previous tool-path, which guarantees the cutter moving in an unmachined area of the part surface and without redundant machining. The method comprises three steps: (1) the calculation of the tool-path interval...

All process elements of a reconfigurable manufacturing system should accommodate future changes. This paper looks at one such process element, tool paths, with focus on face milling and pocket milling. Tool paths for the first part are designed to optimize the process outcomes for the initial constraints. Change in market conditions or part design leading to change in cycle time requirements, g...

This work proposes a process planning for machining of a Floor which is the most prominent elemental machining feature in a 21⁄2D pocket. Traditionally, the process planning of 21⁄2D pocket machining is posed as stand-alone problem involving either tool selection, tool path generation or machining parameter selection, resulting in sub-optimal plans. For this reason, the tool path generation and...