System and method for controlling machines according to pattern of contours

A method for controlling a laser cutting machine according to a pattern of contours, comprising:

• determining a set of exit and entry points on the contours of the pattern;
• determining at least one velocity vector for each point in the set of exit and entry points to produce a plurality of velocity vectors, wherein a direction of the velocity vector of a point is tangential to a shape of the contour at a location of the point, and wherein a magnitude of the velocity vector of the point is a maximum velocity of the laser cutting machine suitable for machining a segment of the contour connected to the location of the point;
• determining the dynamically optimal trajectories between different contours of the pattern by connecting pairs of the velocity vector of the point on the contour and the velocity vector of the point on the different contour;
• constructing a graph, wherein nodes of the graph represent the entry and exit points on the contours, cut-edges represent cuts along the contours between adjacent nodes, and traverse-edges represent the dynamically optimal trajectories between nodes on different cut contours;
• determining a tour through the nodes, the cut-edges, and at least some traverse-edges of the graph, such that the tour optimizes a total cost of performance;
• and
• converting the tour into a set of instruction for controlling the machine, wherein steps of the method are performed by a processor.

A laser cutting machine, comprising:

• a laser cutter for cutting a work-piece according to a pattern;
• a control module for navigating the laser cutter according to a set of instruction, such that the laser cutter tracks cut-edges and traverse-edges without stopping;
• and
• a motion planning module for generating the set of instruction based on the pattern, wherein the set of instruction is generated based on a tour optimizing a total cost of operation of the laser cutter tracking the pattern, wherein the motion planning module determines a set of cut-edges and a set of traverse-edges, wherein a trajectory in the set of traverse-edges is a dynamically optimal trajectory connecting pairs of a velocity vector of a point on the contour and a velocity vector of a point on the different contour, wherein a direction of the velocity vector of each point is tangential to a shape of the contour at a location of the point, and wherein a magnitude of the velocity vector of the point is a maximum velocity of the laser cutting machine suitable for machining a segment of the contour connected to the location of the point, and wherein the motion planning module applies a traveling salesman problem (TSP) solver to produce the tour.

A method for determining a set of instructions for controlling a laser cutting machine according to a pattern of disconnected contours, comprising:

• acquiring the pattern of disconnected contours and at least one of dynamics of the laser cutting machine;
• determining a set of points on the contours of the pattern;
• determining at least one velocity vector for each point in the set of points to produce a plurality of velocity vectors, wherein a direction of each velocity vector at a point is tangential to a shape of the contour at a location of the point, and wherein a magnitude of each velocity vector at the point is a maximum velocity of the laser cutting machine suitable for machining a segment of the contour connected to the location of the point, wherein the maximum velocity is determined based on a shape of the segment and the dynamics of the laser cutting machine;
• determining the dynamically optimal trajectories between different contours of the pattern by connecting pairs of the velocity vector at the point on the contour and the velocity vector at the point on the different contour;
• and
• generating a set of instructions for controlling the machine according to a sequence of the trajectories optimizing a total cost of operation of the machine tracking the pattern, wherein the sequence of trajectories includes at least one trajectory representing the operation along a contour with non-zero velocities at corresponding exit and entry points, and at least one trajectory of the dynamically optimal trajectories representing the operation between different contours with non-zero velocities at the corresponding exit and entry points, wherein steps of the method are performed by a processor.