Design and Development of an interactive 3D CNC Computer Aided Learning Program

The UK Government has committed itself to establishing the University for Industry (UFI), an umbrella organization which will create new markets for education and stimulate change in provision to take advantage of new learning methods. In 1998, a partnership of organizations (universities, colleges and companies) led by The Virtual College submitted a project proposal under ADAPT-UFI to develop on-line and/or CD-based digital interactive teaching material - Multimedia Learning for Industry (MLI). The nine universities / colleges have collectively produced a bid document in which each put forward a project title with a budget of £100k. As part of the MLI project, and due to extensive internal knowledge of CAD/CAM and CNC machine tools, it was decided to develop a 3D interactive CNC training software program for technician and undergraduate level. Although 3D CAD and CAM software is widely available for industry, this concentrates on producing part programs and machining. We are unaware of any 3D CNC software developed for college and university education that teaches the set-up of the machine parameters. This paper describes the development of a 3D interactive CAL program for training in CNC. It also briefly reviews trends and policy for Communication & Information Technology (C&IT) and CAL