For educators, teaching CNC machining to students often comes with challenges. A big concern is often the fear of a machine crash. This risk loomed large in Wentworth’s process of deciding on which machines to use. “Can you imagine a first-time programmer just hitting ‘Go’?”
Rourke asked.
Supervising multiple machines at once is nearly impos- sible, and the faculty needed a solution that made CNC machining safer. Fortunately, Rourke found the answer in ProtoTRAK’s TRAKing capability. “This feature works with the machine’s electronic hand-
wheels, allowing the student to have manual control of the job through the entire program. Without this, a mistake in a student’s program could crash the machine. TRAKing allows the student to go forward or backward through their entire program while they observe the toolpath. They can stop and back up at any point, make changes right on the controller, then resume the job from that point. This feature is huge in a toolroom full of students.”
The TRAKing capability gives Rourke much more confi- dence when supervising a class full of new users. The new modern CNC machines are also bringing Went-
worth students into the Internet era of manufacturing. When students leave class, they download their homework and complete it on ProtoTRAK’s off-line programming software. The Manufacturing Center is equipped with a dedicated server so students can practice and perfect their program- ming “work in their dorm room and send it to the machine,” said Rourke. This sort of programming versatility has freed machines and made the manufacturing lab more flexible. A year since its launch, Wentworth’s Manufacturing
Center’s new equipment is a huge hit with students as more of them are using the facility. Recently, Professor Rourke met with fellow faculty to find ways to squeeze more lab time in for the students. “We are trying to fit more programs into this lab. The demand to use the machines is that high!” ME
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