Gouge-free voxel-based machining for parallel processors

Manufacturers produce complex parts by utilizing computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software to generate tool paths for a machine tool to follow. CAM systems traditionally rely on parametric surface representations of the parts and complex algorithms to produce the tool paths. This paper presents a new path generation framework that is based on parallel algorithms and hardware that utilizes voxel models. The use of new parallel algorithms allows rapid calculations of tool paths automatically from the voxel model. The core components of this framework are a method of generating digital voxel models from tessellated surface models, a method to obtain digital surface information by a parallel ray-casting approach, and a new approach to calculate gouge-free tool paths in parallel from surface information and generalized cutting geometry. The performance of utilizing digital models within this framework is then discussed with respect to timing and actual cutting results.