A system and method for orienting a workpiece on an assembly line to prepare the workpiece for an operation is provided. The method includes positioning a flexible fixture on the assembly line. The flexible fixture has a base and at least one adjustable component. The workpiece is positioned on the flexible fixture. A first orientation of the workpiece relative to the flexible fixture is detected with a detection device and transmitted to a calibrator. The calibrator determines a difference between the detected first orientation of the workpiece and a predetermined fixture orientation and transmits instructions from the calibrator to the flexible fixture to move the workpiece from the detected first orientation to the predetermined fixture orientation. The workpiece is moved with the at least one adjustable component into the predetermined fixture orientation and is fixedly held with the adjustable component.

A system and method for orienting a workpiece on an assembly line to prepare the workpiece for an operation is provided. The method includes positioning a flexible fixture on the assembly line. The flexible fixture has a base and at least one adjustable component. The workpiece is positioned on the flexible fixture. A first orientation of the workpiece relative to the flexible fixture is detected with a detection device and transmitted to a calibrator. The calibrator determines a difference between the detected first orientation of the workpiece and a predetermined fixture orientation and transmits instructions from the calibrator to the flexible fixture to move the workpiece from the detected first orientation to the predetermined fixture orientation. The workpiece is moved with the at least one adjustable component into the predetermined fixture orientation and is fixedly held with the adjustable component.

A hybrid cutting apparatus and a method of cutting a groove are provided. The hybrid cutting apparatus includes: a main body that is connected with a rotation shaft of a machine tool; a grooving tool that is coupled to one side of the main body and for forming a groove at an interior circumference of a workpiece; and a tool position control means that controls a position of the grooving tool to correspond to a cutting surface position of the workpiece.

A hybrid cutting apparatus and a method of cutting a groove are provided. The hybrid cutting apparatus includes: a main body that is connected with a rotation shaft of a machine tool; a grooving tool that is coupled to one side of the main body and for forming a groove at an interior circumference of a workpiece; and a tool position control means that controls a position of the grooving tool to correspond to a cutting surface position of the workpiece.

A universal rotating chuck system capable of accommodating multiple small-batch or one-off machining jobs, involving workpieces of different diameter and composition, comprises a rotating chuck having multiple jaws that may be adjusted positionally inward or outward towards the longitudinal centerline of the workpiece or removed entirely. The chuck is rotated by a dual-motor system driving an inner and outer shaft, where the inner shaft is selectively coupled to the outer shafts to rotate independently and adjust the jaws, or rotate alongside the outer shaft to rotate the chuck. In operation, the system is capable of conducting numerous machining operations independent of direct user intervention, including loading/unloading workpieces, loading/unloading tools, measuring tools and workpieces for quality control, and storage.

A display unit which displays information obtained from a machine tool that executes a machining program including a plurality of blocks as a plurality of program blocks identified by sequence numbers, includes: a data acquisition unit which acquires state information that indicates the state of the machine tool being operated as an amount of variation and a time axis, and timing information which indicates predetermined timing of the machining program executed by the machine tool; a chronological information generation unit which generates chronological information based on the state information and the timing information acquired; a superimposition unit which makes the timing indicated in the timing information coincide and which superimposes a plurality of pieces of the chronological information; and a display portion which displays the pieces of chronological information which are superimposed.

A display unit which displays information obtained from a machine tool that executes a machining program including a plurality of blocks as a plurality of program blocks identified by sequence numbers, includes: a data acquisition unit which acquires state information that indicates the state of the machine tool being operated as an amount of variation and a time axis, and timing information which indicates predetermined timing of the machining program executed by the machine tool; a chronological information generation unit which generates chronological information based on the state information and the timing information acquired; a superimposition unit which makes the timing indicated in the timing information coincide and which superimposes a plurality of pieces of the chronological information; and a display portion which displays the pieces of chronological information which are superimposed.

A workpiece simulation part estimates the amount of movement of the workpiece from drive information and estimates the current position of the workpiece by adding the amount of movement to the previous position of the workpiece, the drive information being generated for, among at least one actuator, an actuator that is assumed to constrain the workpiece under the constraint conditions. A sensor simulation part uses the current position of the workpiece to generate sensor simulation information. An input/output switching part transmits the drive information to the workpiece simulation part and transmits the sensor simulation information as alternate information of the sensor information to the control-program execution part.

A workpiece simulation part estimates the amount of movement of the workpiece from drive information and estimates the current position of the workpiece by adding the amount of movement to the previous position of the workpiece, the drive information being generated for, among at least one actuator, an actuator that is assumed to constrain the workpiece under the constraint conditions. A sensor simulation part uses the current position of the workpiece to generate sensor simulation information. An input/output switching part transmits the drive information to the workpiece simulation part and transmits the sensor simulation information as alternate information of the sensor information to the control-program execution part.

A numerical controller capable of finely designating a restart condition for look-ahead for a program after suppression of the look-ahead is configured to sequentially read out and analyze commands for blocks of a program, perform look-ahead processing to save the result of the analysis in a buffer, and execute the commands for the blocks looked ahead based on the analysis result saved in the buffer, thereby controlling a machine, and is provided with a function of stopping the look-ahead processing when a block into which a code for stopping look-ahead is inserted is read out from the program. The numerical controller is characterized by being provided with a restart condition determination unit, configured to determine whether or not a look-ahead restart condition commanded by the code for stopping look-ahead is satisfied, and a look-ahead preceding restart unit, configured to restart the look-ahead processing if it is determined by the restart condition determination unit that the restart condition is satisfied, and in that the restart condition is a condition related to the state of the machine.