Eli5: How do CNC machines convert digital images into real objects through mechanical movement?

Question

So an electric motor converts electricity into mechanical movement.. But how is Code and digital data converted into mechanical movement ?

In: 2

Answer 1

Like others have said, the code represents the movements of the tool and other settings. So a line of code will say to move the tool from one location from another. Sensors keep track of how much the motors turn (I can go into this if you want) so the cnc machine knows where the tool currently is. It combines this with the knowledge of where it wants the motor to be to create an error for the motor (how much the position is off by). This is then fed through what’s called a controller that does math to determine how much electricity to apply to the motor to get it to move to the correct spot.