Patent ID: 8423172

Claim:
A method in a fluid jet apparatus control system for automatically determining and generating motion instructions to control a fluid jet cutting head to cut a three dimensional target part within one or more designated tolerances using a fluid jet, comprising: receiving an indication of a geometry of the three dimensional target part, the geometry indicative of a jet entrance contour that is not the same as a jet exit contour, such that the fluid jet, when cutting, cuts the jet entrance contour and the jet exit contour from a workpiece in at least one of different speeds or in different directions; receiving an indication of at least one of a desired surface finish, quality, or speed; automatically determining, by examining at least one of speed or direction changes along the depth of the intended cut of the jet determined from a point on the jet entrance contour to a point on the jet exit contour, whether the intended cut has three dimensional curvature characteristics that are outside the designated tolerances when the target part is cut at speeds corresponding to the indicated desired surface finish, quality, or speed by: segmenting the target part geometry into part geometry vectors, each part geometry vector abstractly connecting an imaginary point on the jet entrance contour to a corresponding imaginary point on the jet exit contour, such that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the number of points on the entrance contour and the exit contour; examining at least one of speed or direction changes along the depth of the intended cut of the jet along one or more of the part geometry vectors; and determining for the one or more part geometry vectors whether the intended cut has three dimensional curvature characteristics that are outside the designated tolerances; when determined that the intended cut has three dimensional cut curvature characteristics outside the designated tolerances, automatically determining deviation correction angles to adjust orientation of the jet to produce a cut having three dimensional curvature characteristics that are within the designated tolerances; and automatically generating and storing one or more motion instructions or data that indicate desired movement of the cutting head, taking into account the determined deviation correction angles to adjust orientation of the jet.