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A roadmap for STEP-NC-enabled interoperable manufacturing

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Abstract

The STEP-NC—AP 238 and ISO 14649 standard is the result of a 10-year international effort to replace the RS274D (ISO 6983) G and M code standard with a modern associative language that connects the CAD design data used to determine the machining requirements for an operation with the CAM process data that is used in creating a machining solution to satisfy these requirements. STEP-NC builds on the previous 10 years effort to develop the STEP neutral data standard for CAD data, and uses the modern geometric constructs in that standard to specify device independent tool paths, and CAM independent volume removal features. STEP-Manufacturing, Team 24 in Working Group 3 (WG3) of ISO TC184/SC4, is developing and validating the STEP-NC standard in liaison with Working Group (WG7) of ISO TC184/SC1 who provides the domain-specific input (ISO 14649) used within the standard. This paper reviews the demonstrations carried out by STEP-Manufacturing over the past 10 years. These demonstrations have been international collaborations between industry, academia, and research agencies. Each demonstration focused on extending the STEP-NC data model for a different application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

    M. Hardwick

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Y. F. Zhao

  3. Intelligent Systems Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    F. M. Proctor

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    A. Nassehi

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Xun Xu

  6. Boeing Company, Seattle, WA, USA

    Sid Venkatesh, David Odendahl & Leon Xu

  7. School of Industrial Engineering and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Mikael Hedlind & Magnus Lundgren

  8. Mitutoyo America Corporation, Aurora, IL, USA

    Larry Maggiano

  9. STEP Tools Inc., Troy, NY, USA

    David Loffredo & Jochim Fritz

  10. Sandvik Coromant, Sandviken, Sweden

    Bengt Olsson

  11. Vigo University, Vigo, Spain

    Julio Garrido

  12. Airbus, Madrid, France

    Alain Brail

Authors
  1. M. Hardwick
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  2. Y. F. Zhao
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  3. F. M. Proctor
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  4. A. Nassehi
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  5. Xun Xu
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  6. Sid Venkatesh
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  7. David Odendahl
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  8. Leon Xu
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  9. Mikael Hedlind
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  10. Magnus Lundgren
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  11. Larry Maggiano
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  12. David Loffredo
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  13. Jochim Fritz
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  14. Bengt Olsson
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  15. Julio Garrido
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  16. Alain Brail
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Y. F. Zhao.

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Hardwick, M., Zhao, Y.F., Proctor, F.M. et al. A roadmap for STEP-NC-enabled interoperable manufacturing. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 68, 1023–1037 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-4894-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-4894-0

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