Method of detecting an interference in the control of a plurality of mechanical systems

Claim 1

A method of detecting the interference of a plurality of mechanical systems by simulating a general asynchronous control of said mechanical systems in a motion simulation mode, wherein a plurality of workpieces may be moving independently of each other and a plurality of work tools may be moving independently of each other, said method comprising the steps of: for each individual one of said mechanical systems within said plurality, calculating the mutual positions of said individual one of said mechanical systems with respect to the other of said mechanical systems within said plurality and calculating the degrees of risk obtained from the proximity of said mutual positions to one another; detecting a highest degree of risk occurring in a predetermined period of time which is determined according to a possible time error between an actual machining operation and a simulation and identifying the highest risk positions corresponding to said highest risk; and displaying said mutual positions thus calculated and said highest risk positions, in said motion simulation mode, said mutual position of each said mechanical system being displayed separately or jointly prior to the actual machining process.

Claim 2

A method of detecting the interference of a plurality of mechanical systems by simulating a general asynchronous control of said mechanical systems in a motion simulation mode, wherein a plurality of workpieces may be moving independently of each other and a plurality of work tools may be moving independently of each other, said method comprising the steps of: for each individual one of said mechanical systems within said plurality, calculating the mutual positions of said individual one of said mechanical systems with respect to the other of said mechanical systems within said plurality and calculating the degrees of risk obtained from the proximity of said mutual positions to one another; detecting a highest degree of risk occurring in a predetermined period of time which is determined according to a possible time error between an actual machining operation and a simulation and identifying the highest risk positions corresponding to said highest risk; and displaying said mutual positions thus calculated and said highest risk positions, in said motion simulation mode, said mutual position of each said mechanical system being displayed separately or jointly prior to the actual machining process.