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Baldor's MintNC is a software toolkit to provide machine builders and designers
with an extremely rapid and flexible solution for programming motion control moves
involving contouring and profiling applications in machinery and automation equipment.
If you have any kind of unusual contouring or profiling application,
manufacturers are often faced with the stark prospect of adapting their
process in order to use a standard machine - or the costly and
time-consuming task of building a custom automation solution from scratch.
MintNC gives users the building blocks to rapidly assemble a
machine to suit the production task exactly.
The MintNC
software provides machine builders with an extremely rapid and flexible solution for
creating contouring and profiling machinery and automation. MintNC provides a PC-based environment that will import
information in industry-standard CAD formats including G-code, HPGL and DXF,
and generate the required real-time motion commands. Included are tools for
creating application-specific user interfaces, using standard programming
environments such as Visual Basic or C. For example, users can easily create
custom man-machine interface that present graphical displays of geometry
combined with program listings and simple machine controls such as jog and
home buttons.
MintNC may be used in a variety of modes depending on the process
requirements. It can provide an automatic CAD-to-production system for
one-off tasks such as rapid prototyping for instance. Equally, it could be
used as a front-end to create solutions for repetitive tasks, such as the
cutting of vehicle air bags. Here, users can import CAD files, integrate the
geometry with the speed and control data, and export the data as a motion
script suitable for downloading to a Mint motion controller.
The standard interfaces built into MintNC, including ActiveX compatibility,
allow developers to integrate systems readily with other specialist
hardware. An example might be cameras and image processing libraries. Data
from a subsystem like this could be used to generate geometric information
to drive the motion hardware, facilitating the automation of a wide range of
further applications - especially those where products are made in single or
low quantities, and production tasks must be adapted to suit the item being
processed.
Real-time motion control hardware support is provided by means of the NextMove motion controller range operating over either the PCI or USB bus, and matched drives and servo motors.
Mint-compatible motion controllers provide PLC-style I/O resources -
providing a comprehensive set of the components
required to configure and assemble machine control systems.
Among the applications for MintNC are laser and water jet profilers,
routers, grinders and tangential knife cutters, together with a wide range
of related specialized production tasks such as welding, imaging, and
inspection.
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