A Novel CAM System with X/Y/Z 3-Axis Machines for Large Scale Aspheric Lens Grinding

According to needs of aspheric lens grinding and measurement with X/Y/Z 3-axis grinding machines, a CAM system is designed and implemented. The system, based on the parallel grinding geometry model, has realized the function of grinding locus planning, form error compensation, NC program auto-generation, on-machine measurement, grinding wheel on-machine measurement, simulation and technical database. To verify the stability of this CAM system, experiments were performed with three independent machining experiments. The experimental results indicate that the system realized the whole process of aspheric grinding, and it improved the machining efficiency and automation. Especially, this system adopted on-machine form error compensation technology and improved the machining accuracy. By implementing the error compensation integrated in the CAM system, the surface form error of a 430mm×430mm aspheric lens is decreased from PV8.2µm to PV4.1µm. The grinding accuracy was improved 100%.