[PatrickSlaugh]

So I've had some issuses out in my shop with some parts being over cut ,and being crashed, and the operator says its the machine.
So the company i work for wants to put some sort of monitoring software/system on the machines to track what the machine is doing in comparision to the program.
For instance if the program is telling the machine to be at X2.0 Z2.0 but the machine is at X1.5 and Z 2.0 that would be something id like to know.
has anybody heard of any kind of monitoring software like that?

[Jim Dawson]

I have never heard of such a system. But it could be done. It would require something like a completely independent CNC controller to monitor the tool position using completely separate encoders. Then some way to connect to the machine CNC controller to read where the machine thinks it's at any given time. Then it would be just a matter of comparing the two values.

What kind of machines are we talking about here? What controller?

[generaldisarray]

man, machine, method, mother nature, material,or measurement

place your bets

[PatrickSlaugh]

Fanuc 18, and 15T's for the most part.

[Jim Dawson]

I guess I would talk to your local Fanuc service tech as a starting point. I don't know if it's even possible to externally access the data registers required in a Fanuc system. Fanuc may have some kind of a dual loop system available that can cross check position. Whatever you do is going to be expensive, so the value of a monitoring system depends on the value of the scrapped parts.

If the machine runs 100 of the same part and fails on one part then it's proabaly the machine. If the problems follow the operator, then maybe it's time to re-evaluate the operator.

Without knowing more detail about the types of failures you are getting I could only make wild guesses at where the root of the problems are. Over cut for instance could be incorrect cutter comp plugged in by the operator. Incorrect hole locations could be the result of many factors.