Construction of hardware-in-the-loop simulation system for numerical control force control based on an industrial automation programme

Traditional industrial robots' force control systems exhibit limited practicality and cost-effectiveness in manufacturing complex parts. Therefore, this paper proposes an open CNC force control simulation system based on the “PLC + CNC force control technical table (FCTT)”, integrating both hardware and software components. The hardware includes PLC and CNC force control technology, drivers and servo systems, sensor systems, and system control circuits. The software is implemented in C++ with a modular design, while the upper and lower computers communicate primarily via a standard PCI bus. The corresponding CNC machine control technology receives application program commands from the upper computer. Then, it performs motion control according to the corresponding CNC force, driving the servo system to complete the corresponding motion control commands. This system solves the problem of query speed in the force control system, improving its responsiveness and reliability. The design of complex curved parts was validated using this system, and the results showed that the CNC force control system proposed in this paper improved by about 10% compared to traditional systems in terms of CNC force accuracy, rotation accuracy, surface roughness, and matching between virtual and actual values, demonstrating significant advantages.