Patent ID: 9625897
Date: 2017-04-18
CPC Classifications: G05B,Y02P

Claim:
1. A method of testing a machine tool comprising processing circuitry arranged to control a material remover, in which the method comprises: a) generating a test path to be processed by the processing circuitry to cause the material remover of the machine tool to move along a predetermined path, wherein the test path comprises at least one closed test path having a set shape and set size; b) causing the processing circuitry to execute the test path and move the material remover along the test path; c) in a first portion of the test path execution, causing the material remover to execute the at least one closed test path having the set shape and set size a single time, and in a second portion of the test path execution, occurring after the first portion of the test path execution, causing the material remover to execute a plurality of times the at least one closed test path having the set shape and set size that was executed in the first portion, wherein the material remover executes the second portion of the test path execution from a moving start; d) while the processing circuit is executing the test path, obtaining machine tool timings using the movement of the material remover along the test path, including determining an average time for executing the closed test path at a constant feed rate, wherein determining the average time comprises determining a total time required to complete both the first portion and the second portion, subtracting the time required to complete the first portion from the total time, and dividing the result of the subtracting by the number of times that the closed test path is executed in the second portion to obtain the average time; and e) setting machine tool parameters for the machine tool based on the machine tool timings from the test path to be subsequently used when cutting paths are generated for the machine tool, wherein the machine tool parameters comprise a minimum radius that the machine tool can be moved around.