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

The code is specifically designed to translate letters and numbers into movement.

`G90 G54 G43 H7 G0 Z1.0;` does the following:

Machine mode: absolute (as opposed to incremental)

Work offset: G54 (most modern machines support multiple work offsets so you can have multiple parts in the machine if you want)

Enable tool length offset

Tool length offset #7

Rapid move to one inch above the part

As you can see, this is largely nothing more than chaining together the commands you want. The machine controller reads each block in turn and knows to execute a specific action.