Generating Tool Paths for Rapid Manufacturing Machines
In collaboration with Dublin City University (Dr. Dermot Brabazon) we are investigating the use of Grammatical Evolution to generate tool paths for rapid manufacturing machines.

G-code is a common name for the programming language that is used for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools. Typical code instructions include movement displacements, angles of rotation, rapid moves, controlled feeds, move in straight line or arc, and to set tool information including offsets. Software that is commercially available for G-code generation includes at a basic level text editor facilitates (EditCNC) and at a sophisticated level codes for the tool paths generated from supplied CAD files (AlphaCAM and CIM-Tech). This software takes the Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing and generates the G-code necessary to machine the part design from a block of material stock. Unfortunately, these software packages do not produce the most efficient tool paths. This can lead to extra tool wear, machining time, and difficulty in generating code for complex geometries.

Rapid Manufacturing (RM) machines use very similar movement command structures in order to build or extract the designed part from material stock. In this project we are using Grammatical Evolution (GE) in order to generate more efficient tool paths for RM machines.

Efficient tool path design is particularly important when attempting to Rapidly Manufacture geometrically complex structures (for example replacement bone structures - see figure above which depicts SEM images of normal (left) and osteoporotic bone (right).