Using curvature bounds towards collision free 5-axis tool-paths

This paper presents how freeform surface properties can be estimated through bounding, rather than sampling. Bounding surface positions using the control mesh, and bounding surface normals using normal cones, are both well known procedures. In this paper, we add to these, a procedure to bound the normal curvature values of a surface. We then show how collision free 5-axis tool-paths for CNC machining, using any convex shaped tool, can be generated using the normal curvature bounds of a surface, without calculating surface offsets. As the tool-paths are generated using conservative bounds on the surface, and not sampled points, the tool-paths can be both globally optimized and globally guaranteed to be collision free. Simulation results validating our approach are also presented.