Read the

following text carefully and say if the statements are true (T), false (F) or

not stated (NS)

The Invention of CNC Machining

In order to understand where CNC Machining first

appeared, it is important to note that the said machine’s advent can be traced

back to the invention of the NC (numerical controlled) machine made by John T.

Parsons during the 1940s-1950s. The NC was a breakthrough invention that led

the way towards modern automated machines.

Together with Frank L. Stulen, Parsons first utilized

computer methods to crack machining setbacks, especially the accurate

interpolation of the curves that is found in helicopter blades. Stulen got an

idea from his brother to employ stress calculations on the rotors. Parsons

observed what Stulen was experimenting on with punched card machines generating

an outline with 17 points and then inquired if it was possible for Stulen to generate

an outline with 200 points.

In the process of developing smoother rotors, they

managed to generate an early version of the NC, where generating numbers for

complex and précised outputs was possible. At that point, Parsons considered a

fully automated tool that can surpass the performance of the current NC. In

1949, he turned to Gordon S. Brown’s Servomechanisms Laboratory at MIT to

develop a feedback system that can gauge how far the controls had actually

turned.

With enough resources to back the project, the system

was displayed in September 1952. The MIT’s system was a triumph, so that it was

now possible to come up with any complex cut that cannot be copied manually.

Yet due to its complexity, its reliability in a production setting is reduced,

not to mention its cost that is worth more than $2,641,727.63 in today’s

currency.

The Air Force halted its funding in 1953, but Giddings

and Lewis Machine Tool Co. resumed the project by producing NC that can reduce

the expenses and improve quality and efficiency. With their direction of the

project, the Numericord controller was created, replacing punch type readers

with magnetic tape readers.

The CNC machine first appeared when John Runyon

managed to produce punch tapes under computer control. This showed dramatic

results in terms of time, reducing the normal production duration of 8 hours to

15 minutes. In June 1956, the Air Force accepted the proposal to produce a

generalized “programming” language for NC.

Eventually, the Air Material Command at the Wright-Patterson

Air Force Base and the Aircraft Industries Association (AIA) collaborated with

MIT in 1957 to generate a fully computer controlled NC system. The invention of

CNC machines paved the way for automated tools that meant cost efficient

production for manufacturers.

CNC mills have very little differences with its

predecessor in terms of its concept. The modern CNC mill still functions in

machines to produce outputs in three dimensional directions: X and Y axes, and

depth. Examples of CNC systems applied in various industries include laser

cutting, welding and ultrasonic welding among others.