apt (programming language)

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APT or Automatically Programmed Tool is a high-level computer programming language used to generateinstructions for numerically controlled machine tools. Douglas T. Ross is considered by many to be thefather of APT. APT is a language and system that makes numerically controlled manufacturing possible. Thisearly language was used widely into the 1970s and is still a standard internationally.[1]

1 Overview2 Example Program3 References4 Further reading

APT is used to program CNC machine tools to create complex parts using a cutting tool moving in space. Itis used to calculate a point-to-point path that a tool must follow to generate a desired form. APT is a CAMsystem based on a special-purpose language. It was created and refined during the late 1950s and early1960s to simplify the task of calculating geometry points that a tool must traverse in space to cut theincreasingly complex parts required in the aerospace industry. It was a direct result of the new CNCtechnology becoming available at that time, and the daunting task that a machinist or engineer facedcalculating the movements of the CNC for the complex parts for which it was capable. APT was createdbefore graphical interfaces were available, and so it relies on text to specify the geometry and toolpathsneeded to machine a part.

APT shares many similarities to computer programming languages like Fortran. A general-purpose computerlanguage takes source text and converts the statements to instructions that can operate the internals of acomputer. APT converts source statements into programs for numerically- or computer-controlled machinetools. Typically, this is a text file that contains CNC-vendor dependent commands to generate tool motionsand machine states. Most commonly, this is some form of G-code.

APT (programming language) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT_(programming_language)

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Tool Path for program

PARTNO / APT-1CLPRNTUNITS / MMNOPOSTCUTTER / 10.0$$GEOMETRY DEFINITIONSETPT = POINT / 0.0, 0.0, 0.0STRTPT = POINT / 70,70,0P1 = POINT / 50, 50, 0P2 = POINT / 20, -20, 0C1 = CIRCLE / CENTER, P2, RADIUS, 30P3 = POINT / -50, -50, 0P4 = POINT / -30, 30, 0C2 = CIRCLE / CENTER, P4, RADIUS, 20P5 = POINT / 50, -20, 0L1 = LINE / P1, P5L2 = LINE / P3, PERPTO, L1L3 = LINE / P3, PARLEL, L1L4 = LINE / P1, PERPTO, L1PLAN1 = PLANE / P1, P2, P3PLAN2 = PARLEL, PLAN1, ZSMALL, 16$$MOTION COMMANDSSPINDL / 3000, CWFEDRAT / 100, 0FROM / STRTPTGO/TO L1, TO, PLAN2, TO, L4TLLFT, GOFWD / L1, TANTO, C1GOFWD / C1, TANTO, L2GOFWD / L2, PAST, L3GORGT / L3, TANTO, C2GOFWD / C2, TANTO, L4GOFWD / L4, PAST, L1NOPSGOTO / STRTPTFINI

^ Ross, Douglas (http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/dictionary/detail.asp?guid=&searchtype=1&DicID=17045&RefType=Encyclopedia) . Smart Computing Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 September 2008.

1.

Douglas T. Ross (1978). "Origins of the APT Language for Automatically Programmed Tools(http://ied.unipr.it/silve/meaz/origini-APT.pdf) ". In: ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Vol. 13, No. 8, August1978

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