[step-manufacturing] Version 0.1 Machine tool simulator

[Martin Hardwick]

All,

We have constructed a simulator that can move the five axes of the 
KTH machine tool.

There are three files in the following directory:
ftp://ftp.steptools.com/private/Vancouver/test_data/msim/

The first file is the simulator.
ftp://ftp.steptools.com/private/Vancouver/test_data/msim/msim.exe

The second file describes which axes are in the two control chains 
for this machine tool - the workpiece chain and the cutting tool chain.
ftp://ftp.steptools.com/private/Vancouver/test_data/msim/machine-model.xml

The third file is an AP-203 assembly made by KTH for their machine tool.
ftp://ftp.steptools.com/private/Vancouver/test_data/msim/mill-5axis.stp

In order to run the simulator you need to put all three files into 
the same directory. The simulator requires the control chain data to 
be in a file called "machine-model.xml", but the machine-model.xml 
file can refer to any AP-203 assembly. Therefore, if you are willing 
to hand edit entity references, then you can change this file to 
create a simulator for other machine tools.

We cannot use the simulator to run STEP-NC programs yet, but you can 
use the buttons in the user interface to move the tool holder and the 
workpiece table. Other features that need to be enabled include 
machine tool limits for each of the axes. We can discuss the 
priorities in the conference call on Wednesday.

Martin Hardwick
Team Leader STEP-Manufacturing