【正文】
ig. 12 it can be seen that two essential elements are added to an otherwise standard machine. The first added element is a means of driving the machine table or toolholder by a servomotor, and hence the motion of the tool or workpiece depends on the signal passed to the servomotor. The second added element is a transducer that continuously monitors the position of the tool or workpiece. The signal from the transducer is pared with that obtained from the tape, and any difference (or error) is converted to analog form, amplified, and used to drive the servomotor until the tool or workpiece position agrees with the position specified by the information on the tape. Fig. 12: Feedback loop for one axis of a machinetool control system There are two basic types of NC systems: the pointtopoint, or positioning, system and the continuouspath, or contouring, system. The pointtopoint system would be applied, for example, to a verticaldrilling machine. If control of the two horizontalmotion axes of the table supporting the workpiece is arranged, the machine can be programmed to locate and then drill a specified pattern of holes. In the pointtopoint system the path of the tool relative to the workpiece between holes is not important, and only the coordinates of the end point of each motion of the table