An all-in-one motion and machine controller is helping operators set new levels of cost-effective performance in the stone cutting sector.

Farnese Australia (www.farnese.com.au) has unveiled the new Quantum bridge saw that provides X, Y and rotational motion for the efficient and fast shaping of stone bathroom and kitchen surfaces. Compared to existing machines, it sets a new price/performance standard in the market sector.

“The biggest challenge with application development was to simplify the operation of the machine,” said Jason DeSouza, applications manager at Baldor Australia. “Farnese specified that the operator interface should not require any G-Code, or CAD/CAM software or special computer hardware.”

Its integrated Baldor controllers are programmed in a proprietary language known as MINT, which incorporates complicated interpolated motion into a simple command set. It gives the operator flexibility to make motion profiles easily and quickly by eliminating the need for additional software.

“Machine cutting paths are based on a range of pre-defined geometric shapes and dimensional information entered by the user,” DeSouza added. “These are used to calculate and pre-load motion commands which are executed in real time within the controller. Therefore, the machine does not experience any time delays associated with standard computer operating systems.”

Farnese’s one-of-kind interface makes selection of the proper shape-cutting process very simple, avoiding risk of operator error. Several pre-programmed shape-cutting sequences are also provided in the application to cover common requirements, without the need for skilled operator programming by the bathroom and kitchen surface suppliers that typically bought these machines.

With the new Quantum bridge saw, Farnese Australia switched to Baldor’s Ethernet-based NextMove e100 controller. It provides all of the resources needed for the real-time interpolated control of four servo motor axes, all of the machine’s I/O, as well as ActiveX interface to the unique Windows user interface that the company has developed to simplify stone masonry.