Technologies for 5-axis machining and high-speed machining were developed with the objective of shortening development schedules and achieving higher-precision quality in the Numeric Control (NC) machining of mock-up models, compared to conventional NC machining which consists mainly of 3-axis machining. The conventional NC machining format was thoroughly reviewed in terms of infrastructure, hardware, software, and machining technology. By developing a new system that links CAD/CAM software with the NC machine, 5-axis NC machining and 3-axis high-speed machining technologies have become possible. At the same time, high quality NC data creation time was reduced. As a result of these new technologies, the NC process has become five times faster than the conventional methods.
Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.14 No.2 (63 - 68)