MODULAR OPEN ARCHITECTURE INTELLIGENT CONTROLLERS FOR GENERAL PURPOSE MACHINE TOOLS

THE LOW END NGC IMPLEMENTATIONS SHOULD BE MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, BUT IT IS THE HIGH END NGC CONTROLLERS WHERE NEW CAPABILITIES WILL RESULT. HIGH END NGC SYSTEMS SHOULD PROVIDE ACCURACY AND SURFACE FINISH NOT ACHIEVABLE WITHOUT NGC'S CAPABILITY TO INCORPORATE REAL-TIME CONTROL ENHANCEMENT SOFTWARE SUCH AS REAL-TIME ERROR COMPENSATION, REAL-TIME ACTIVE VIBRATION DAMPING, REAL-TIME CLOSED-LOOP PROCESS CONTROL, ETC. THIS PROPOSAL FOCUSESON AN EARLY IMPLEMENTATION OF A HIGH-END NGC SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED ON THE PARALLEL INFERENCE MACHINE (PIM) DEVELOPED BY FLAVORS TECHNOLOGY. PIM HAS PROVEN ITSELF AS A CAPABLE HOST FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. IN ITS MAXIMUM CONFIGURATION, IT CONTAINS 128 MOTOROLA 68030 MICROPROCESSORS WITH A GIGABYTE OF MEMORY SO THAT NO FORSEEABLE NGC IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE TOO LARGE TO HOST ON THE PIM. THIS PROPOSAL DETAILS THE TECHNICAL ISUES ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLEMENTING NGC ON THE PIM. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMCERICAL APPLICATIONS - THE GOAL OF THE NCG PROGRAM IS TO REVITALIZE THE U.S. MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY, PROVIDE U.S. MANUFACTURERS OF MACHINED PARTS WITH TECHNOLOGY WHICH WILL INCREASE THEQUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS AND DECREASE THEIR COST, AND FINALLY GIVE THE U.S. MILITARY A QUALITATIVE INCREASE IN CURRENT MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIES. IMPLEMENTING NGC ON THE PIM WILL PROVIDE AN EXTENSIBLE HOST WHICH CAN MEET ANY FORSEEABLE APPLICATION, AND WHICH IS ALREADY CONFIGURED AND MARKETED AS A COMPUTER FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.