Method and system for automated software control of waterjet orientation parameters

A computer-readable memory medium containing instructions that control a computer processor to control orientation of a cutting head of a fluid jet apparatus relative to a material being cut, to produce a target piece having a geometry with a plurality of geometric entities, the fluid jet apparatus having a plurality of process parameters, by:

• receiving an indication of speed for each of the plurality of geometric entities of the geometry, wherein at least two geometric entities are associated with different speeds;
• automatically and dynamically determining an orientation parameter for each geometric entity in accordance with the indicated speed and the plurality of process parameters;
• and
• automatically controlling the motion of the cutting head in accordance with the automatically determined orientation parameter to cut the material to produce the target piece.

A dynamic fluid jet control system that controls a fluid jet apparatus to produce from a material a target piece with a geometry having a plurality of geometric segments, the fluid jet apparatus having a cutting head that rotates on a plurality of axes, comprising:

• cutting head control interface that communicates a plurality of orientation values to the cutting head of the fluid jet apparatus to orient the cutting head with respect to the plurality of axes to cut the target piece;
• and
• lead and taper modeling component that
• automatically and dynamically determines a plurality of orientation values for each of a plurality of segments of the geometry in accordance with a determined cutting head speed associated with that segment, at least two segments having associated speeds that are different;
• and
• forwards the determined plurality of orientation values for each segment to the cutting head control interface to control the orientation of the cutting head.

A method in a computer system for controlling a jet apparatus to cut along a designated cutting path of a material to produce a target piece having a geometric specification, the jet apparatus having a cutting head and a plurality of modifiable process parameters;

• comprising:
• retrieving a representation of a predictive data model that models the effects of values of at least one orientation characteristic of the cutting head on a cut produced using those values;
• automatically and dynamically determining a plurality of values for the at least one orientation characteristic from the retrieved data model representation in accordance with values of the process parameters;
• and
• using the determined plurality of values for the at least one orientation characteristic to control the jet apparatus to cut along the designated path to produce the target piece.

A computer-readable memory medium containing instructions that control a computer processor to control a jet apparatus to cut along a designated cutting path of a material to produce a target piece having a geometric specification, the jet apparatus have a cutting head and a plurality of modifiable process parameters, by:

• retrieving a representation of a predictive data model that models the effects of values of at least one orientation characteristic of the cutting head on a cut produced using those values;
• automatically and dynamically determining a plurality of values for the at least one orientation characteristic from the retrieved data model representation in accordance with values of the process parameters;
• and
• using the determined plurality of values for the at least one orientation characteristic to control the jet apparatus to cut along the designated path to produce the target piece.

A fluid jet apparatus controller for controlling a cutting head of a fluid jet apparatus to cut along a designated cutting path to produce a target piece, comprising:

• memory that contains a predictive data model of the effects of values of an orientation characteristic of the cutting head on a cut produced using those values;
• and
• cutting head control portion that
• retrieves the predictive data model from the memory;
• automatically determines a plurality of values for the orientation characteristic from the retrieved data model in accordance with the designated cutting path;
• and
• uses the determined plurality of values for the orientation characteristic to control the cutting head of the jet apparatus to cut along the designated path to produce the target piece.

A fluid jet apparatus control system for controlling a cutting head of a fluid jet apparatus to cut along a designated cutting path to produce a target piece, comprising:

• memory that contains a predictive data model of the effects of values of an orientation characteristic of the cutting head on a cut produced using those values;
• and
• cutting head control interface that
• retrieves the predictive data model from the memory;
• automatically determines a plurality of values for the orientation characteristic from the retrieved data model in accordance with the designated cutting path;
• and
• uses the determined plurality of values for the orientation characteristic to control the cutting head of the jet apparatus to cut along the designated path to produce the target piece.

A computer-implemented method for automatically and dynamically controlling three dimensional orientation of a cutting head of a fluid jet apparatus relative to a material being cut, to produce a target piece having a geometry with a plurality of geometric entities, the fluid jet apparatus having a plurality of process parameters, comprising:

• receiving an indication of a value of one of the process parameters for each of the plurality of geometric entities of the geometry, wherein at least two geometric entities are associated with different values of the one of the process parameters;
• automatically and dynamically determining an orientation parameter for each geometric entity in accordance with the indicated process parameter value, the orientation parameter used to control at least one of tilt and swivel of the cutting head;
• and
• automatically controlling the motion of the cutting head in accordance with the automatically determined orientation parameter to cut the material to produce the target piece.

A computer-readable memory medium that contains instructions for controlling a computer processor to automatically and dynamically control three dimensional orientation of a cutting head of a fluid jet apparatus relative to a material being cut, to produce a target piece having a geometry with a plurality of geometric entities, the fluid jet apparatus having a plurality of process parameters, by:

• receiving a value of one of the process parameters for each of the plurality of geometric entities of the geometry, wherein at least two geometric entities are associated with different values of the one of the process parameters;
• automatically and dynamically determining an orientation parameter for each geometric entity in accordance with the indicated process parameter value, the orientation parameter used to control at least one of tilt and swivel of the cutting head;
• and
• automatically controlling the motion of the cutting head in accordance with the automatically determined orientation parameter to cut the material to produce the target piece.

A dynamic fluid jet control system that controls a fluid jet apparatus to produce from a material a target piece with a geometry having a plurality of geometric segments, the fluid jet apparatus having a cutting head that rotates on a plurality of axes, comprising:

• cutting head control interface that communicates a plurality of orientation values to the cutting head of the fluid jet apparatus to orient the cutting head in three dimensions with respect to the plurality of axes to cut the target piece;
• and
• lead and taper modeling component that is structured to:
• automatically and dynamically determines a plurality of orientation values for each of a plurality of segments of the geometry in accordance with a value of a process parameter associated with that segment, at least two segments having an associated value of the process parameter that are different;
• and
• forwards the determined plurality of orientation values for each segment to the cutting head control interface to control the orientation of the cutting head.