The History of CNC is a fascinating subject and one that dates back to around the time of World War Two. The birth of CNC can actually be directly linked to the war, the need for precision parts for aircrafts and more complex parts to be manufactured. The actual date of the start of the History of CNC can be said to be 1949, the concept being developed by John Parsons and his desire for stiffened skins for aircrafts.
CNC was therefore born in Massachusetts, the very first CNC machine being a 28 inch vertical spindle contour machine. This first machine was modified from its original state so that it would work alone, the transmission from the machine being fed back to the director of the said machine to ensure that it was doing what it was told. Although this may seem very primitive when compared with the machines of today, it was a significant turning point in not just the history of CNC but in the history of how the world operates today; to see just how important CNC is in today’s world visit http://www.cam-machine.com.
This first machine underwent many developments in the years after 1949, and its accuracy was considerably better by around 1954. It should be noted however that at this time the controls for the machine were actually bigger than the machine itself; to use a simple comparison simply cast your mind back to the sheer size of the first ever computer that was made way before the invention of the laptops and tablets of today.
John Parsons was awarded the Joseph Marie Jacquard memorial award in 1968 for his outstanding contribution to CNC, and he would become known as the father of the second industrial revolution in the field of engineering. Prior to CNC, NC machines existed, these numerically controlled machines manufacturing such items as levers and cams. Early NC machines were very primitive indeed, and if the feedback cable were to break the fluid flow would continue and the machine would actually run away with itself.
A CNC machine requires a motion or drive system and a feedback device to work correctly; the motion system can be a brake, clutch, valve, hydraulic motor, or electric motor or a combination of two or more of these. A very simplistic example of a CNC machine is that of a conveyer belt in a quarry. An operator will set the belt in motion, then using numerical control to speed up or slow down the belt; he will then go on to monitor the machine to ensure that it is running correctly, this being the feedback element of the system.
Many of the first instances of CNC machines in the history of CNC were used for aircraft parts, the necessity for modern aircraft being very real at the end of the Second World War. Since this time however, progressions and advances in CNC machines have allowed for the dissolution of humans on the factory floor and on the production line, CNC machines that have been carefully programmed using the most advanced CAD software now simply doing the job that humans used to do to perfection and without error.
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