Toolpath generation based on innovative rotary coordinate and shuttling element in ultra-precision diamond turning of optical microstructures

Toolpath generation techniques have become increasingly critical in ultra-precision diamond turning for optical microstructure as the dramatically promoted complexity of structural geometry. However, the spiral toolpath topology is usually difficult to be adapted to the mathematical expression or scattered point clouds with quadrilateral meshing method used for the conventional structure models. In this paper, a creative spiral toolpath generation method integrated geometric modelling for ultra-precision turning is proposed. By the innovative rotary coordinate and shuttling element method, the point clouds for microstructure modelling could be scattered along the spiral topology which can be directly fitted as the final toolpath. According to the simulation experiment, this method can dramatically reduce the operation time of modelling and toolpath generation in diamond turning, and ameliorate the fitting accuracy and feeding motion.