The Process Monitoring workspace (#168 / #5-01-1)
Application
In the Process Monitoring workspace the control visualizes the machining process during program run. You can activate up to six concurrent monitoring tasks for the corresponding monitoring sections. If required, monitoring tasks can be parameterized, replaced or removed.
Requirements
- Software option Process Monitoring (#168 / #5-01-1)
- Monitoring sections have been defined with MONITORING SECTION
Define monitoring sections with MONITORING SECTION (#168 / #5-01-1)
- Reproducible machining process in FUNCTION MODE MILL milling mode exists
- Program run in Full Sequence mode
Description of function
The Process Monitoring workspace provides information and settings for monitoring the machining process.
Areas of the Process Monitoring workspace
The Process Monitoring workspace is structured as follows:
- Left side: Filter column, which affects the table in the central area
- Center: Table with contents for setup or run-time data, can be toggled
- Right side: Form column with settings options or monitoring tasks, depending on the table mode
Using the Setup table and Runtime table icons in the workspace title bar, you can toggle the table mode. The contents of the Filter and Form columns depend on which table is currently active.
Table-independent area
- Table-independent area
Independent of the table mode, the control displays the following contents:
- Switch for activating process monitoring for this NC program
- Button for resetting the monitoring settings for this NC program to the default values.
The control monitors the standard monitoring tasks and the default columns of the runtime table.
- Area with notes on the active NC program
You can expand or collapse this area.
The note area provides the following information:
Column or icon | Meaning |
---|---|
Type | In the Type column, the control displays various note types. |
Information (for example, the number of monitoring sections) | |
Suggestions, such as Consider deleting all records for NC program If you change the positioning blocks within a monitoring section, the control can no longer consider the recordings made so far. You must delete the recordings in the Form column. | |
Warning (for example, if a monitoring section has been removed) | |
Error (for example, if two monitoring sections are identical) | |
Description | The control displays a hint in the Description column. |
Program line | If the information depends on an NC block number, the control displays the program name and the NC block number. |
Screen layout if the setup table is active
- The Process Monitoring workspace if the setup table is active
The Process Monitoring workspace contains the following items if the setup table is active:
1 | Filter column that can be used to hide rows with monitoring sections in the table With the Next and Exclude buttons, you can select and hide the monitoring sections. You can activate or deactivate the filter by means of a toggle switch. |
2 | Table-independent area |
3 | Icons for toggling the table mode between Setup table and Runtime table |
4 | Form column with program-specific settings |
5 | The Setup table |
Contents of the Setup table
Each monitoring section in the NC program corresponds to one table row. The name of the row is made up as follows:
- Sequential number of the monitoring section
- Designation of the monitoring section
- Designation as defined in MONITORING SECTION START
- SECTION if no designation has been specified.
- Tool name if the monitoring section starts with a tool call
- Line number of the monitoring section in square brackets
The columns contain the six possible monitoring tasks and one monitoring task whose status is represented on the workpiece in the simulation. Select this monitoring task in the Heat map area of the form.
Using the setup table
Depending on where you tap or click on the table, you either mark the entire table, an entire row or column, or only one cell. If you select an NC block, the control will mark the associated area in the table (e.g., the row of the monitoring section).
The settings in the form reflect the current selection.
Screen layout if the runtime table is active
- The Process Monitoring workspace if the runtime table is active
The Process Monitoring workspace contains the following items if the runtime table is active:
1 | Filter column that can be used to restrict the table display to certain machining operations:
You can activate or deactivate the filter by means of a toggle switch. |
2 | Table-independent area |
3 | Icons for toggling the table mode between Setup table and Runtime table |
4 | Form column with settings or monitoring tasks, depending on the active contents of the runtime table:
|
5 | Runtime table |
Contents of the runtime table
In the left area of the runtime table, the control displays the Recordings table with the recorded machining operations.
In the area on the right, the control displays all monitoring sections of the NC program side-by-side. You can select a monitoring section and view the results of the recorded machining operations as rows.
The control displays the first three rows of the Recordings table even if the area on the right is active. The following columns cannot be changed:
Icon | Meaning |
---|---|
Sequential number of the recording If you activate this icon, the control will mark all rows and displays a checkmark in the icon. If you deactivate this icon, the control will remove the marks of all rows and removes the checkmark from the icon. | |
Date and time at the start of the NC program | |
Manual assessment of the result of the machining operation as Part is OK or Part not OK Depending on the procedure, the control uses the evaluated recordings as reference machining operations for monitoring. The control only uses the first ten good parts as reference machining operations. In the Form column, the control provides part evaluation, too. Tip You can evaluate only completely executed recordings. Good parts must be representative for the machining process (for example, they must not include process interruptions or slower feed rates from proving-out). |
The contents of the remaining columns can be selected in the Configure table window.
If no recordings have been made yet, the control will display gray bars as placeholders in the tables.
Using the runtime table
- If you tap or click the table name, the control will display the entire table.
- If you tap or click the table column icon, the control will open the Configure table window.
- If you tap or click the icon in the header row, the control will sort the contents of the table by this column in ascending or descending order.
- If you tap or click a row once, it will be marked additionally. If you double-tap or double-click a row, the control will mark only this row.
Icons
The following icons are shown in the Process Monitoring workspace:
Icon | Meaning |
---|---|
Open or close the Filter column | |
Filters active | |
Activate Setup table | |
Activate Runtime table | |
Open or close the Form column Depending on the selected item, the form has the following contents:
| |
Open or close the Settings The global settings can be accessed from the title bar of the Process Monitoring workspace. | |
Reset The control monitors the standard monitoring tasks and the default columns of the runtime table. | |
Colored boxes represent automatic assessments made by process monitoring. | |
Colored circles are user-definable assessments. | |
Open Load an existing monitoring template for the selected monitoring task | |
Global settings in the Process Monitoring workspace
Open the global settings with an icon in the workspace title bar.
The Graph area
- The Graph area of global settings
The Graph area offers the following settings:
Setting | Meaning |
---|---|
Simultaneously plotted references | Select the maximum number of recordings that the control displays simultaneously as graphs in the monitoring tasks:
|
Preview [s] | During execution, the control displays graphs of the current monitoring tasks. You can show an area for signals expected during the next seconds on the right in the graph. You can set how many seconds the control will display on the right in the graph:
|
Show tunnel area | When the toggle switch is active, the control displays the monitoring tunnel area in the graph on a color background. Only available for the Tunnel or Constant monitoring tasks. |
The Monitoring tasks area
- The Monitoring tasks area of the global settings
In the Monitoring tasks area, the control shows six saved templates for monitoring tasks in alphabetical order. This area is empty as long as you have not yet saved any templates for monitoring tasks.
You can create templates during the parameterization of monitoring tasks or in the Form column of the setup table. The control saves the templates in the TNC:/system/Processmonitoring folder.
Settings for parameterizing of monitoring tasks
You can save any number of templates. However, the control will only display the first six templates (in alphabetical order) in this window. If several templates refer to the same signal and procedure, the control will display only one of them. Using the icon next to the templates, you can open the templates file path in the Files operating mode. There, you can rename or delete templates.
The templates shown here will be used as defaults for new monitoring sections or NC programs. If you saved fewer than six unique templates, the control will additionally display templates defined by the machine manufacturer, and if there is still space left, HEIDENHAIN templates.
Settings in the Form column
Form with active settings table
When the settings table is active, the control displays the following settings in the Form column:
Area | Meaning |
---|---|
Monitoring task | For the marked cell or column, select the signal to be monitored by the control and the monitoring method. The control only displays selection options that allow a reasonable combination of signal and procedure. |
Reactions | You can activate or deactivate the reactions of the currently selected monitoring sections. Following a hyphen, the control shows all available reactions for one or more selected monitoring tasks. Toggle switches allow you to activate or deactivate the individual reactions. Tip If several monitoring tasks are marked and the statuses of the reactions do not match, the control will display the toggle switch in a center position. |
Heat map | You can select one of the defined monitoring tasks whose status the control displays as a heatmap on the workpiece. |
Open and Save buttons | You can load an already saved monitoring template for the selected monitoring task or save the current settings as a template. The control provides the same options for the parameterization of monitoring tasks. |
Form with active Runtime table
If the Recordings area is active in the Runtime table, the control displays the following settings in the Form column:
Area | Meaning |
---|---|
Evaluate component | You can evaluate the selected machining operation as Part is OK or Part not OK. Depending on the procedure, the control uses the evaluated recordings as reference machining operations for monitoring. The control only uses the first ten good parts as reference machining operations. The control provides the same options in the third column of the Runtime table. Tip You can evaluate only completely executed recordings. Good parts must be representative for the machining process (for example, they must not include process interruptions or slower feed rates from proving-out). |
Recording strategy |
The control can save recordings with up to 8 GB max. for each NC program. When the Overwrite upon maximum size toggle switch is used, the control will overwrite the latest recordings when the maximum size is reached. If the toggle switch is inactive and the maximum memory capacity is reached, the control will interrupt process monitoring and issue an error message. |
Manage recordings |
Tip Refer to your machine manual.
|
The Configure table window
If you tap or click the icon of a column in the runtime table, the control will open the Configure table window. In this window, you can select the information to be displayed in the column.
Screen layout if the runtime table is active
- The Configure table window
The Configure table window contains the following buttons:
Button | Meaning |
---|---|
In all monitoring sections | If you activate this toggle switch, the Replace, Paste, and Delete buttons will be effective for the tables of all monitoring sections. Applies to the monitoring section tables only |
Replace | The control inserts the selection instead of the current column. |
Paste | The control inserts the selection as a new column after the current column. Only if the In all monitoring sections toggle switch is active The Recordings table can contain up to ten columns. The tables for the monitoring sections can contain up to six columns. |
Delete | The control deletes the current column. Only if the In all monitoring sections toggle switch is active Each table must contain at least one column. |
Cancel | The control closes the Configure table window. |
Depending on whether you selected a column in the Recordings area or in the monitoring sections area, the control provides different options.
The Configure table window can contain the following group of options:
Icon | Group | Icon | Options |
---|---|---|---|
Triggered reactions | Information reactions Number of reactions within the NC program or monitoring section | ||
Warning reactions Number of reactions within the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Stop reactions Number of reactions within the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Counter | Counter current value (start) At the beginning of the NC program or monitoring section | ||
Counter target value (start) At the beginning of the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Counter current value (stop) At the end of the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Counter target value (stop) At the end of the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Workpiece evaluation | Manual evaluation | ||
Runtime properties | |||
Note You can enter a comment. | |||
Contains runtime data Check box Only recordings that contain run-time data can be selected as reference machining operations. | |||
Pallet name Only if the NC program is part of pallet machining or pallet handling | |||
Monitoring tasks | |||
Time data | Date | ||
Time Time at the beginning of the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Date and time Date and time at the beginning of the NC program or monitoring section | |||
Duration Duration of the NC program or monitoring section in seconds | |||
Tool data |
Colored boxes represent automatic assessments made by process monitoring. Colored circles are user-definable assessments.
Display mode
For monitoring tasks and the Resulting value, you can specify how the control will display the result:
Display mode | Icon | Options |
---|---|---|
Worst or Best | Best The control shows the smallest deviation from the monitoring tasks during machining (i.e., the best result). Using this option, you can see, for example, whether there was a process disturbance before or during a monitoring section. | |
Worst The control shows the greatest deviation from the monitoring tasks during machining (i.e., the worst result). Using this option, you can see at a glance whether there was a process disturbance during machining. | ||
Resulting quantity (discrete) or | No icon | Resulting quantity (color gradient) The control displays the result using a color scale from green to dark red. With this option, you can, for example, see whether a machining operation was approaching the error limit. |
No icon | Resulting quantity (discrete) The control uses the following colors for the results display:
Using this option, you can see quickly whether error limits were exceeded. |
If no result is available yet, the control displays a gray icon.