A control device of a machine tool comprising a table that supports an object to be machined, a main shaft on which a tool is mounted, and a mist collector that collects mist comprises: an acquisition unit that acquires at least one piece of information from among a machining load, a relative movement speed of the main shaft in relation to the table, and a rotational speed of the main shaft; a startup determination unit that determines whether to start the mist collector on the basis of the at least one piece of acquired information; and a collector control unit that automatically controls the mist collector on the basis of the determination details.

A modular tabletop apparatus, typically used for workpiece storage and handling during robotic manipulation and feeding to a machine, is disclosed. Modules of the apparatus comprise detection interfaces disposed at locations corresponding to module edge locations and arranged in a periodic grid. Alignment of facing detection interfaces along common edges of pairs of adjacent modules permits module controllers to detect neighboring modules, and a main controller to compute the overall size and shape of the tabletop formed by the modules. Connecting arrangements are also disclosed. The connecting arrangements may be placed at the same grid locations as the detection interfaces, advantageously permitting alignment of detection interfaces for any interconnection configuration of modules. Modules may comprise plates with a grid of positioning indentations. The period of the positioning grid can be an integer multiple or integer fraction of that of the interface/connection grid.

A machining center is provided, which can complete replacement of processed works on stock shelves in a work storage section with unprocessed works within a time period significantly shorter than those in conventional techniques and improve the efficiency of an entire processing process. In the machining center, a cover surrounding the work storage section includes an opening portion where rear surface regions of the stock shelves are exposed, a stock shelf access door that closes the opening portion and is driven to be opened and closed, a locking device for the stock shelf access door, a unlocking mechanism that is operable from the outer side of the cover to unlock the locking device, and a door opening/closing detection device that detects an opened or closed state of the stock shelf access door. A control unit of a CNC device includes an interlocking function of disabling the unlocking mechanism while an automatic pallet changer is driven, and a safety control function of prohibiting, based on a detection signal from the door opening/closing detection device, a drive unit of the automatic pallet changer from being driven while the stock shelf access door is in the opened state.

A machining state estimation apparatus includes a processor that executes first prediction processing and second prediction processing in a first period. A storage device stores a first parameter and a second parameter that define a machining state.