Design of a real-time adaptive interpolator with parameter compensation

The interpolator is the key part of a CNC system, which has strong effect on machining accuracy, tool motion smoothness, and machining efficiency. In this paper, a real-time adaptive interpolator is developed for non-uniform rational B-spline curves (NURBS) interpolation while considering the maximum acceleration/deceleration of the machine tool. In this proposed interpolator, both constant feedrate and high accuracy are achieved while the inconsistency of feedrate is dramatically reduced as well. In order to deal with the acceleration/deceleration around the feedrate-sensitive sharp corners, a look-ahead function is introduced to detect and adjust the feedrate adaptively. Furthermore, a parameter compensation scheme is proposed to eliminate the parametric truncation error which has been analyzed by several researchers but still not incorporated into any real-time interpolator so far. A case study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the developed interpolator.